Lethal Crown
by SarcasticSeraph
Summary: Judal and Aladdin are twin brothers and both Magi, and the pride of the Kou Empire. In an attempt to win over it's support, and also to improve his emerging talents, Aladdin goes to Sindria to study. However, relations between the two countries take a severe turn for the worst during this time. Adult Aladdin, AlibabaxAladdin, one sided SinbadxJudal and various others. Shounen-ai.
1. Chapter 1

_Two things. First is a rather generic note there will be some mild-moderate shounen-ai stuff i.e, malexmale here, just saying as we can't all have the same tastes. Couplings will be (eventually) AlibabaxAladdin (as an adult Aladdin, that is) and a one sided SinbadxJudal. There will be various hints and squints of others, possibly._

_Second thing is there might well be spoilers for the manga in here. I'm kind of having a play around with the plot and characters :p (ie, pre-depravity Judal, him and Aladdin being affiliated initially with Kou not Al-Thamen rather than the other way round, and such like)._

_And - lastly - I have nothing, of course, to do with Magi. Enjoy~_

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**_Lethal Crown_**

**_Chapter 1_**

With interest, Judal watched as the collective energies of his and his twin's magic violently clashed with one another. For a moment, a brilliance of pale ice and roaring fire flashed through the evening's dying light far above the cherry blossom trees of Kou's palace gardens and proved to be striking. In the next, he watched that same wall of blue ice melt and fracture under the oncoming threat of vivid scarlet fire as it came hurtling towards him. He paused, he breathed, and he waited. The scattered white flashes of rukh gathered again and it was then he stepped back and planned what to do next.

Aladdin was certainly getting stronger. His younger twin, identical to him aside from Aladdin's deep azure hair and eyes, seemed also to know exactly what Judal was planning. He usually did these days, and it proved annoying. Before the black haired brother had retreated far, a second and brighter flicker of embers and heat was thrown at him, gaining momentum and not stopping. Within moments he flinched, that overwhelming and billowing roar of flame set upon him and he backed away quickly. He skidded back on the cool emerald grass, and struck the dark wall behind him he forgot was there with a light thud. He rubbed at the exposed area of his lower back before hanging his head in defeat.

But then, that's what sparring was for. His younger twin grinned, a blur of white and light blue clothing standing his ground and knowing he had won. Judal wasn't really inclined to see him as stronger, however. He looked about him, they were alone and he knew he could use...that. He had been told not to, but he liked to win, and they had just told him not to show...that to anyone else.

So he gave him a sharp look, his fierce ruby eyes locking with his brother's much calmer ones. "Chibi, you know what – this is getting boring. Let's try something more fun for a change..."

He didn't wait for Aladdin's rely, but then he never did. The already darkening sky was plunged into deeper shadows the moment after he gave his ebony and ruby sceptre a lazy flick. It was then that a monstrosity of strange black energy amassed and grew, materialising in a towering and ominous black form, sprang into existence. The strange black djinn stood before its master, and Aladdin looked at it apprehensively. It flexed its leathery wings as it stood between them and looked down at its opponent through malevolent blood toned eyes. Neither brother had seen anything quite like it before, but Judal decided he liked it; Kassim seemed powerful after all.

As Judal floated up to level with the fiend-djinn's shoulder, he felt something catch out of the corner of his eye. For a moment it seemed as though that radiant white of the collecting rukh seemed to darken and turn black, as if changed by his creation, but he reprimanded himself. There was of course no such thing as black rukh.

Far below him, Aladdin drew a hand through his braided and long hair before calling up to him. "Onii-san, are you sure it's ok to call Kassim like that? Even if they said it was yours, they didn't seem to want people to see him. And they only just gave him to you, so..."

"Scared of losing? They gave him to me for a reason, didn't they?" Judal, after all, just wanted to win; he was older so naturally he should be stronger. And that looming figure blotting out the evening sky seemed to be a good way of winning at that moment. He had never had a djinn before, aside from his brother's one. Right now it was just awaiting his command; and he had not thought to ask where it come from – he didn't really care that much either.

"Why didn't they give me one too?"

"You already have one remember?" Aladdin had Ugo, after all.

"Mm...but doesn't Kassim feel a bit different to Ugo? He feels sinister," Aladdin enquired quietly. Well, Judal did notice how the air seemed to have darkened. He would have commented on it, but his brother told him not to lie about things like that; even if he wasn't lying. He watched as Ugo burst forth from his brother's flute, the blue, muscular and oddly headless entity standing tall as the two djinn faced each other. He watched Aladdin perch lightly on Ugo's shoulder across from him.

"Eh? Sinister? Maybe, but he looks powerful so it's fine." To Judal, his Kassim seemed to be stronger. So to him that was a fair match. "Come on then – let's see who wins. Kassim or that crazy looking headless thing you've got."

"He had a head I keep telling you, onii-san. He's just shy."

"He's probably just ugly. Watch out!" Judal floated back as abruptly, and without his command, the two djiin collided with each other. His eyes widened as the dark claws of Kassim pushed violently against Ugo's palms as the two wrestled with each other. It seemed more of an even match than he thought it would. "Huh, wow, look at that. They're really going at it..."

"They don't seem to like each other much, do they onii-san?" Aladdin pondered as he drew out his golden flute again, as Judal drew out his black sceptre. A few notes of that fragile instrument caught on the air as his sceptre flicked, but neither seemed appeared. Their djinn remained locked together, as if this was an actual fight. "Mm...play nice Ugo..."

"Chibi, he has no ears – so how can he hear that song anyway?" he muttered. The twin in black looked down, and far below his ruby eyes caught someone enter the courtyard from a red toned bridge to the west. Approaching them, he knew he should recall Kassim, but then he saw who it was. A familiar person they had not seen in a while; a man with long wildly violet hair, tanned skin and...Judal felt himself flush slightly and ran a hand over his porcelain features in uncharacteristic nervousness.

He flew to meet him, dropping the long way down so he crouched before the self-made king in a mocking bow, and cut off Sinbad's steps. The leader of a far away kingdom simply looked unfazed, as if he was used to the dark Magi dropping from the skies in such a way. Perhaps he was. "Eh? What are you doing here?"

Alone, and without his generals, Sinbad scanned curiously over the forgotten sparring session; both awe and surprise in his eyes over seeing something like Kassim. Judal just thought he was impressed, and felt content about that.

Sinbad had been someone he and his brother had known for years. His relationship with Kou had always been tenuous at best and tempestuous at worst; mainly as he had intervened and conquered several dungeons Judal had initially raised for the empire's princes and princesses. As Judal had grown older however, things had quietened down; especially since Sindria had been formed and Sinbad had established a powerful alliance far to the south. Once Sindria took to admitting various powerful, and prominent, refugees Kou turned its collective gaze more and more to the initially troublesome king.

Calm amber eyes searched over him. "Well, of course I was invited. Really do you have to make it sound like I just broke in?"

"Did you?" Judal raised a dark eyebrow and folded his arms.

"Ah – we haven't seen each other in this long and this is the first thing you say to me? Me breaking in wouldn't end well, you know that," Sinbad continued to watch the ongoing battle with the djinn and Aladdin over Judal's distracted shoulder. "How long has it been anyway since I saw you both...Kou's precious gemi-Magi..."

The other man seemed amused, but Judal had never liked that name much. "Who knows? I heard you were off building some country or whatever..."

"Trust you to say that like it's nothing," Sinbad's eyes remained fixed on Kassim. "That thing's pretty dangerous looking, Judal. Did they tell you anything about it? Are you alright handling it?"

Judal had just got Kassim, so he had no idea if he had any idea if he could handle him or not. "Eh? Of course I can. It's meant for someone like me, and I'm much stronger than some idiot king like you now."

Sinbad didn't seem all that convinced. "Is that so? Well, I'm sure if it's dangerous you'll be able to handle it. Regardless...you might want to look behind you..."

"Huh?" Judal span round as he heard a loud thud. The dark djinn hit the lush grass, sending a tremor that ran under his bare feet even though he was a fair distance away. He cursed when he saw his brother's victorious smile, and groaned as he flicked his sceptre again. Kassim vanished in a curious dark mist and was gone."Damnit, you distracted me..."

"You're meant to watch an opponent in a duel," Sinbad pointed out."

Aladdin grinned, walking over to them. "Mm, so that means that Ugo is stronger. I win."

"What? No way this idiot distracted me," Judal narrowed his eyes. "You probably just broke in anyway – who would invite you here?" he watched Sinbad suppress a smile before turning to his brother. "This isn't over, chibi."

"It seemed pretty over to me, onii-san..."

Their visitor cleared his throat loudly. "Seeing as you asked so nicely, I just accepted a request to have you study in Sindria for a year Judal. Recently I granted asylum to someone...fairly ingenious that Kou would want you to learn from. She'd love to meet you, and it doesn't hurt to improve the relations with this country either."

He paused; neither too sure if he wanted to go to Sindria, nor if he thought if the two countries could get along. To him it seemed unlikely; given that Sinbad wasn't responsible enough to do what Kou demanded of him. It had always annoyed him.

"So, what do you think? Do you want to go back with me?"Sinbad asked him softly. Those eyes met him, as if to tempt him, and Judal felt the heat rise in his face. He simply shrugged, not wanting to appear too interested. "You always said you'd want to. Or is just seeing me here enough?"

"...You wish. Or do you just want me to try persuading you to join the empire yet again?"

"Who knows?"

That impassiveness, as always, annoyed him. "Well, I'm strong enough already. What can I learn going all the way there?"

"Yamaraiha would be no ordinary teacher you'd have met in Magnostadt. And your focus needs work; you've always been bad at that. I remember at the dungeons it was just waiting for you to get distracted and then-" he cut off.

Judal looked at him curiously. "And then...what, exactly?"

Sinbad leaned in, and the dark Magi felt himself flush again. "...Have a fairly easy time defeating you, of course..." he whispered very softly in Judal's ear, playfully, yet with that same indifference playing over his face. He cursed himself that he, as always, expected something different. "But you shouldn't spar too late tonight; it's better if you meet with your empress and I tomorrow to talk about you going back with me."

At a loss for words, and irritated by how the man's breath felt over his cheek, Judal just glared and watched Sinbad leave. Within moments the foreign king had retreated back through the labyrinth of scarlet and dark palace buildings and left the younger man as confused and annoyed as ever.

"Mm, I don't really want you to go there, onii-san. A year seems like ages," his brother sighed. Even if Judal wouldn't admit it, he felt the same. Part of him wanted to spite Sinbad and not go back with him. As Aladdin gripped his shoulder he pushed the thought from his mind. "But we should go back anyway; Gyokuen will want us there."

"...Yeah..." he nodded, and reluctantly followed his brother back through the chaotic yet lavish stretch of the palace they had grown up in.

* * *

"...I got hungry alright?" Judal said in response to his brother's glare. Late that night they had taken to raiding the kitchens for what fruit they could find. As much, now the older twin continued to throw a peach lazily from hand to hand and watched the fuzz of gold and pink blur pleasantly against the night shadows. The brothers made their way back quietly along the thin network of thin, dark wooden walkways back to their room, Aladdin's paces being a lot swifter than his own.

"OK, but we should get back quickly," he replied, as Judal continued to bite quietly at the tangy fruit now and only half listened to him. He was more focused on the sweet tang of the peach as it washed coolly over his dry throat. They both tended to get hungry anyway after sparring. In a way it was fortunate that a life growing up in that maze of quad gardens, streams and buildings had become second nature. "If we're late Gyokuen will get angry. Honestly it's your fault we end up doing things like this."

"...Things like eating and sparring?"

Aladdin's azure eyes gave him a searching look before claiming a stolen peach for himself, biting, and answering thickly, "you know what I mean, onii-san..."

Judal swallowed heavily. "Chibi you worry too much. Just like Hakuryuu before he –" he froze, a slim hand gripping his brother's arm and the twins stopped dead in their tracks before retreating back round the corner. Ahead of them and across the floral and rock-lined quad garden, two figures there were deep in quiet conversation. Ruby eyes squinted as he looked over the top of the pink, fragrant flowers to identify that troublesome king with Kougyoku Ren.

Aladdin leaned forward slightly. "What are they doing here; do you think they're hungry too?"

"I don't think so. Either securities pretty lax or that idiot king's sneaker than he was..." Judal felt it was more likely the latter. He looked over Kougyoku, a small girl he had chosen as a king-candidate, and the eighth princess of her empire. She was holding a long rose and lime silk sleeve over her face as she spoke to Sinbad, her face flushed as he met her eye. Judal knew that feeling at least. Typically the man just looked casual and leaned against a pillar as he spoke. "She's a bad girl, though. Meeting a man unattended at night...what's the hag hiding?"

"Why's she meeting him?"

He had a feeling his brother would have blundered in there, so he kept a grip on Aladdin's light blue top to ensure he didn't. Judal tended to enjoy spying on Sinbad, at any rate. "Since the revolt with Balbadd and her not marrying their pig king fell through, they want her for an arranged marriage. I guess her marrying him would improve relations with Sindria. And...she likes him, doesn't she...a lot" he added reluctantly.

"Does he like her?"

"I don't think he'd like you said that," Judal couldn't work out anything, as Kougyoku talked through her sleeve and Sinbad had his back to him. That was a shame."I think they're just friends, anyway."

Judal just found that naive and forced himself not to laugh, so instead he shook his head. He finished his peach, tossing the stone over his shoulder casually where it rattled quietly on the wooden floor. "He has to get a wife sooner or later; and what does marrying someone have to do with liking them anyway?"

"...A lot?"

The older brother shook his head and tried to explain. "It's an opportunity; Kou wants a good relationship with Sindria. There's a lot to gain from it. She's the only person here that idiot will talk to without looking like he's about to die from boredom."

"There's you."

"Eh? Don't you think that he'd look a bit weird as my queen?" he regretted that as Aladdin omitted a loud snort of laughter as he pictured it. Sinbad glanced in their direction, and the twins ducked down out of sight.

"Sorry onii-san, we should go," Aladdin gripped his hand, and in a low clanging of gold bracelets they retreated back to their rooms. As they did, Judal felt as though Sinbad was watching him but dared not look back. It seemed likely he'd notice them, but then he had more to lose wandering about at night.

Soon after they were drawing shut the crimson slide door to their rooms, the fragranced, warm air within welcoming to them. Judal flopped down onto his bed on his messy half of his room. In comparison his brother's was neatly ordered with his books and several glimmering dungeon objects. Aladdin began to systematically untie his hair as Judal looked over at him from the messy scattering of deep red sheets.

"She did tell me something interesting though," his brother was saying from his neatly made bed. "She told me you used to say each dungeon Sinbad beat was like him stealing a kiss off of you. She thought it was a cute thing to say."

Groaning Judal buried his face in one of many dark coloured pillows. "...That hag; what's she telling you something like that far?"

"Ask her; but if you like him I don't think she'd marry him."

Judal looked up, his brother having neatly untied most of his hair so it fanned out, and picked his way across the room to help him with the highest ties. He perched on the bed, reaching for a comb and for a moment admiring how the deep blue strands caught the light before setting about combing them. "...That's stupid though; it's not like he does more than make fun of me for liking him. But then I guess everyone likes him."

"He came here for you though," Aladdin commented before frowning. Continuing to untie and comb his hair, Judal noticed a strange expression and wondered what he was thinking. "I...don't want to be left alone here; we've always been together onii-san. It's going to be weird."

"Alone with all these annoying people?" Judal asked. "You'd be too busy, if I go you'll be the one picking out king-candidates instead of me."

Aladdin shook his head, yanking the comb slightly out of his brother's hand as he did. "I don't think anyone here would make a good king though. How you can just name them so easily?"

"It's not like I think they'll make good kings. I just do as I'm told," he replied flatly. "But maybe it's best if you go there instead. They can't complain if one of us stays here."

Aladdin blinked, flopping back on his bed now his hair was sorted. "And you'll come too?"

He shook his head. "Think about it; Sindria and Kou don't trust each other yet. They're taking a risk sending one of us as it is."

"It's stupid," Judal couldn't argue with that. He started to sort his hair, and felt his brother take over straight away. "I just want us to stay together, and not to be split up. We've always been together, onii-san."

Judal tried again. "I'll let you choose – do you feel better going there?" he watched his brother nod, and figured that solved things. "We can't act like we're children, chibi, they're serious about making us as strong as we can for Kou."

Aladdin yawned widely. "They're always serious..."

It certainly seemed that way. Judal made his way over to his again, and just thought over things. One thing he was aware of, after spying on people, was that they really were set on using the brothers as best they could. Given they were resorting to having one of them leave to study elsewhere; he just had to wonder what else they had in mind. He had a bad feeling over such things he couldn't quite explain. One thing that did surprise him was he was glad Aladdin chose Sindria over being here; that ironically wandering into a rival country would be safer. Well, that was just a suspicion anyway. He doubted sometimes the rumours of what the empire was up to were really true.

Having said that, Judal usually liked hearing about such rumours.

"Alright, tomorrow when we go there we'll tell them you're going," Judal closed his eyes, not entirely sure his brother wasn't asleep already. "Yeah...this way's probably better...Sinbad always said it was nice there. So nice you probably won't miss me all that much."


	2. Chapter 2

_This story is turning out to have a rather slowish start. Hopefully enough people like it though, despite that.  
_

_Doremishine itsuko - thanks for the review. And thanks to anyone who have followered/ favourited so far!_

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**_Chapter 2_**

In all his years of tenuous dealings with Kou, Sinbad knew he was yet to meet the Emperor's wife. And as such early the next morning, on the beginning of a colourful day lacking any noticeable breeze, he along with his two most trusted generals were taken to a small hut annexed to the palace. The moment that he laid eyes on Gyokuen Ren, he was grateful that both Jafar and Musrur kept close to him. The woman proved...unsettling to say the least.

"I wanted to talk to you about Balbadd," she had said immediately, both calmly and abruptly, not long after the three men had entered. She sat with the illusion of patience in the rose-hued hut as she sipped tea and left her attendants outside. She didn't seem to be all patient to him; if anything it seemed almost calmly aggressive for any ruler – let alone a woman – to be so confident.

"Alright; I think your Lord Priests seem to be running late. So we might have time to discuss that," he agreed. Even if to Sinbad it seemed a rather rude observation, he couldn't help notice Gyokuen appeared a lot younger than a nearing fifty year old woman would look like. Her face was pleasant, her features sweet and with that etched and kind smile that seemed to be almost a mask. She had been the wife of two emperors, two brothers, and had mothered four children with the second.

She watched him curiously, serene and soft light blue eyes locked to him and seemingly as guarded as he was. To him it seemed they were unsuccessfully attempting to gauge each other. Her painted lips, like frozen petals caught in endless winter, were poised and seemed to be wondering what to say. They also offered him something that was either a polite smile or a condescending sneer. "They will be here soon, their training is very important. But I did hear that you were in Balbadd recently from Abhmad Saluja – is that true?"

"I was there," he nodded. "I actually passed through the capital Sram on my way here. As I wasn't there long I didn't notice much. There was an uprising there, and it looked fairly horrible. I chose to leave many of my best men to deal with their – Fog Troupe was it?" He looked over to Jafar questioningly, and his general nodded silently. "Hence I'm here with these two – but they're more than enough, fighting wise..." he watched Gyokuen look over the two men, one petite and fair and the other tall and muscular, standing rigidly behind their sitting king. "They were offering help to any he needed. If you're sending armies there, it seems you're doing the same thing."

"Of course..." the Empress agreed. There had been no immediate sign of Kou intruding on Balbadd, which had surprised him. However they had been surprisingly quick to occupy it once the country had fallen. Instead he knew what he had heard, that there had been some other involvement. It seemed to be a shadowy, unnamed organisation that had supplied the rebels with strange magical weapons and had dealings with the king there. Sinbad hadn't been there long however; he just knew this organisation had some link to Kou. He just knew the Empress was unlikely to verify the hushed whispers of a darkness stirring under the empire's veneer of calm.

"There was something interesting however," he continued levelly. This was a little of a white lie, but seeing that demonic-like black djinn yesterday had him curious of something."I heard rumours even in the little time I spend there. The citizens spoke of monsters appearing – I think they talked of something like giant, dark demons? I've never heard anything like it of course; have you? Perhaps someone was interfering in Balbadd, or the usurpers had some kind of strange magic. I wasn't sure what to think about something like that."

Gyokuen's eyes widened ever so slightly; which he took as her mask slipping and the woman was nervous. She paused for several long moments. "Indeed, I've never heard of anything like that." Which was strange, Sinbad thought, seeing as Kou had one black djinn which they gave to a particular reckless Magi of theirs. "But you do have a good eye for noticing that much. Abhmad did say the thieves there used strange devices so that could be it – how strange. He also writes that their leader was some bastard prince originating from the slums. A common bastard, seeing to spill royal blood – can you imagine such a heinous act?"

Sinbad smiled slightly; of course, the Empress would care little for bastard princes such as Alibaba Saluja. The odds are, she didn't see her present company as a worthy king, either. He had simply taken a country which he worked hard for, united a seven nation alliance far to the south and had not been born to such things. Sinbad really cared little for people like her. "No, it's fairly outrageous. But I'm curious; Abhmad you say is a good king; he graciously allowed your armies to enter his country after all that trouble after all. But I'm curious why your niece broke off their engagement. Surely it would have been quite the match."

"Kougyoku is very young, and has the blood of a common whore in her. Having said that, it seems a different suitor caught her eye," she gave Sinbad a pointed look, who chose not to respond and wish for this topic to pass. Quickly. "Marrying her would help the empire trust you a lot more. And she is very lovely – but then they always are," she cleared her throat. "You say you left many men in Balbadd, which I'm thankful for. Did you take any refugees back to Sindria? I know you tend to do that."

"It's very possible," he admitted. "Many people lost their homes there; I did what any good king would do."

Gyokuen nodded, seemingly relaxing and assured he was not so much of a proverbial thorn in her side. In comparison, he felt the opposite. "I wondered if that bastard is there; if he is I'd be grateful if you let us know. We're helping Balbadd and its king now, after all. Abhmad assured me he had all of those thieves executed, but not that man. He has caused poor Abhmad so much trouble; and he hasn't been eating since..." Sinbad had seen the man, and doubted a few missed meals would matter much. Her voice trailed and was lost on the airless breeze. He had, of course, rescued and saved Alibaba himself even if the young man had been unconscious.

Right now, it seemed he was unfortunately right. That darkness continued to seep to the east, and was gradually poisoning Balbadd now. Sinbad was more and more grateful he had chosen for Sindria to be in the middle of the oceans, isolated from such things. For now, at least. He nodded, but had no intention of giving up Alibaba for execution. Instead he was thinking to find out more about Kou and that strange shadowy organisation; as there was no point doing much else until he knew more.

They sat in silence, and the Empress continued to watch him silently, even if Sinbad thought the painted, ornate hut seemed friendlier now. Her game was one of etiquette rather than manners; and he felt such things insufferable. He had however gotten used to those trivialities of gestures and timing over the years – it was unfortunate but much needed. Not long later he heard the all too familiar bickering voices and the panelled, painted door slid open. Gyokuen lowered her cup, and smiled. Sinbad indicated for his generals to relax.

"Here I thought I told you two not to spar too late..." he commented lightly.

"We did..." the two brothers replied, in complete union, before glancing awkwardly at once another. They then took to opposite corners of the small room to stand in.

The hut was getting rather crowed now. The Empress looked between Judal and Aladdin, and then to Jafar and Musrur, and finally back to Sinbad himself. She smiled gently. "We were beginning to miss both of you. You see, we wanted you to be here as we made an arrangement with Sindria concerning you both. About your training..." she looked over at the dark twin, who slouched against the wall, arms folded, and seemed indifferent to such an important thing.

"Ah...Sinbad ran a hand carelessly through his long, violet ponytail. "I might have already told them about what you asked of me. I did run into them sparring last night you see."

He watched Gyokuen flinch very slightly at that; and had some idea why. "They have always trusted you, even if you interrupted them several times helping our candidates through dungeons but...that is in the past. I doubt you'd do anything harmful to either of them – not that you could."

"Harm something as precious as the legacy of Solomon himself? Magi are what he left behind in this world..." he pondered as he looked between the two young men who had burst in not so long ago. Looking at them, it just seemed remarkable how much power they had. "And I want us to trust each other and strengthen our alliance – it was a good idea to have Yamaraiha teach one of them."

"Having someone as talented as that in your country...she's a genius beyond equal. It just really seems Sindria and its alliances are somewhat...impressive, it's commendable. Enough to interest me; she'll be invaluable in teaching him."

He nodded. "If you'd like, I think I could persuade her to teach them both. She was enthusiastic enough to have the privilege to teach one of them – two would make her say. And would help you a lot I think."

Very quickly, and he felt predictable, she shook her head. "I can't risk having neither of them to help with our defences for a full year. People would think we're weakened and they might attack. You might not be able to understand this, but possessing two Magi as we do has an immense impact on how we're seen."

"I know, but they've always been together haven't they? I was thinking it would be harsh to have them separated so suddenly. Kou has more than enough men and is still powerful. You could even send whoever you wanted to Sindria to guard them if you wish."

"I know you might not be a proper king or used to having a country, but still..." she snapped, before stopping and reaching a small hand to cover her mouth apologetically. Sinbad noticed Judal smirk from out the corner of his eye. "My deepest apologies, I didn't mean to offend you. I got ahead of myself. But you know they are a vital part of our empire, more so than anything else. It was a tough decision agreeing to have one go, but I admit having Yamaraiha leave Sindria after all that happened to make her leave Magnostadt isn't a good idea. We can't be without them for that long so; I'll send Judal back with you,"

"Actually, onii-san decided I'd go instead," Aladdin piped up enthusiastically, instantly seeming to still the growingly hostile atmosphere. Sinbad looked between the twins curiously. "It sounds like fun."

"It will be a lot of fun, but my friend's magic would suit your brother's magic more than you. It's why I asked him to come back with me."

Judal yawned widely and stretched a bored and glazed expression on his face. "Chibi wants to go; it's not a big deal. It's not like she can't teach him powerful magic; a true magician can use all types. Anyone knows that."

Sinbad met his eyes curiously. "It's not a big deal, no. I just remember you saying countless times you wanted to see my country. I thought you'd like that I asked you."

"Eh, I guess. But chibi's so useless. He hasn't even named a king yet, so he should do something for a change."

"...I'm not useless, I beat you twice yesterday."

"No, you cheated twice yesterday..."

Gyokuen cleared her throat again, and the brothers stopped quarrelling. She stood gracefully, fussing over smoothing her rose toned skirts and the rest of the room straightened with her."Very well, maybe Judal is better off staying here. Aladdin, if you would be sure to be ready to leave first thing tomorrow." She watched the two brothers' bow, and then leave. "How odd for them to come to such a random decision."

"They're young; and they might just feel it's better for the stronger of them to stay here."

"Aladdin is the stronger of them two. Surely you noticed that," Gyokuen gave him a soft, perhaps condescending smile. Sinbad waited patiently as the Empress left that small, overly elaborate and vividly painted hut and met with her attendants in the hushed and suspicious whispers of women. He exchanged glances with his men before they, too, extracted themselves from what had proven to be a troublesome meeting.

* * *

For not the first time he had been in Kou, Sinbad felt himself compelled to be alone and to have time to think. That evening saw celebration and its accompanying fires over the palace's skyline as the foreign king stole himself away. He moved from the sway of dancers and heard the collision of timed drum beats and soft whimsical tones of accompanying wind pipes quieten as he moved away. The palace was lit up and grown noisy it's bid of farewell to Aladdin and the last night he would spend there for a year. It never surprised him just how much the empire was dedicated to their twin oracles, although it was not all that surprising. It did, however, succeed in doing the dangerous thing of making Sinbad see Kou in a more favourable light; it was almost as colourful, loud and carefree as Sindria's celebrations after all.

His bare feet traced over the grass and crushed over the petals of the delicate flowers residing there. He made his way through the numerous pale gardens until he met with a fringe of cherry blossom trees, and turned into the expanse of a lavish and scarlet hued courtyard nearby. There, and speculated at last, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Sake was still, as usual, veiled heavily on his senses, and to the extent he didn't notice the slender figure in black perched on the roof behind him. The same, and troublesome, figure which seemed to enjoy following and spying on him.

"So did you take in that bastard prince or not?" Judal had finally called down to him impatiently, in a tone suggesting he had been dying to ask that.

He jumped down, landing with a graceful, almost feline-like grace before turning to face the other man. The king of a somewhat-rivalling country, and the oracle of another, sized each other up silently. Even though not entirely sober, Sinbad knew this was once battle of patience he was certain to win. "You're not enjoying the celebration to say farewell to your little brother?"

"Sure I am – who wouldn't?"

The dark Magi took to leaning next to the vivid wall beside him, tossing a peach casually from one palm to the next. Sinbad turned to him. "I don't see how it's a good idea to tell you about anything that Sindria – or I – get up to."

"Huh – for you that's as good as a 'yes' though," the rose and creamy toned fruit soared into the air before being caught, and Sinbad took to watching that instead of paying attention to him. "Ah, you're so annoying! Come on. What, are you scared I'm going to tell that old witch or something? I won't."

"She's your Empress, and you're meant to be loyal and respectful for your country. Whilst we're at it, you need to start addressing royalty more kindly, you don't want to end up in trouble one of these days."

Judal smirked. "Funny that you know who I was referring to though. And you know, it's not my country. They just brought chibi and I here."

"Yes of course...I forgot that," Sinbad admitted. Given that the twins had always lived there, and how much the empire prized them, it would seem otherwise. "But it's not like us gossiping back from when I was stealing a dungeon from one of your candidates. I can't tell you anything."

"You know, you were more fun before you were a king," Judal signed, peach remaining in his hand for the time being. "Whatever, fine – I'll tell you something instead. You know all that stuff going on in Balbadd?" Sinbad nodded slowly, eyeing him but trying not to seem too curious. "Things are going on here too. I keep hearing nobles talk about some shadowy organisation when I eavesdrop on them. That those speaking out against the empire go missing and –"

It wasn't a good habit, but then Sinbad couldn't say much as it tended to be a good source of information for him as well, instead he gave him a sharp look. "Is any of that true?" Judal shrugged. "Hm, that's troubling. Why are you telling me this?"

"Who knows? I've just wanted to tell someone for ages. It might as well be you."

It seemed to always be him. Sinbad caught sight of two guards out of the corner of his eye – or at least what he thought were guards. They were tall, dressed in long black robes. Their faces were covered with white cloth and vine-like thorns were threaded around their foreheads. Not liking the look of them he gripped Judal's arm gently, watching as ruby eyes fixed on him before he was pulled round the corner away from them as they passed by. "Listen, you shouldn't talk about that with anyone else. I guessed it was more than some simple revolt over there. But, that djinn you have..."

"Kassim, you mean?" Judal indicated the sceptre he kept stashed in his black top.

"Kassim?" Sinbad asked curiously. For some reason, and a reason he couldn't remember, the name seemed oddly familiar to him. For some reason it made him feel uncomfortable. "You didn't enter an agreement or become his master like Aladdin did with Ugo?" Judal shook his head, still passing the peach back and forth silently. "I figured you wouldn't know, and they just gave him to you. You didn't ask them about it?"

"No, why would I? They just said it's powerful so where's the problem?"

"That is so...typical of you. You go out of your way to spy on people and listen to rumours, but the moment someone gives you something powerful you just take it," even so, Sinbad knew right now there was little to be done about it. He didn't know enough of the situation, and he knew Judal wouldn't give up something like that if he simply asked nicely for it.

"Although...it's a bit weird. Yesterday I brought him out and I saw..."

"You saw...what?"

Judal went to say something, then smiled and seemed to think better of it. "Ah nothing, just my imagination. Stuff like that doesn't exist."

He laughed slightly, and Sinbad raised an eyebrow before working out there was no point pursuing that topic. "So you're really not coming back with me, then. I was surprised with that, a bit disappointed too."

"Huh, really? Yeah well..." he trailed off, "Did you know chibi's stronger than I am now?"

"Gyokuen said as much, yes."

"It just seems a better idea to have him go there instead. I want to find out if there's any more rumours; ha, even a complete idiot like you can see something wrong's going on here."

"You might be a little smarter than I thought you were," Sinbad commented quietly. Watching the peach as it continued on its ill-advised journey. "If you find out anything, let me know. But be careful."

"Huh? Are you kidding me? It's not like you'd actually be worried about me," his eyes widened as Sinbad grew irritated enough to swipe the fruit from him mid air.

Sinbad took a bite of the peach before grinning back at the frustrated look on the other man's face. "Of course, didn't you know? You two are so special even your enemy watches out for you."

He had begun to laugh, he remembered that much. In the very next moment he had been pushed against the cool, hard wall and had felt either too drunk or too surprised to really react. More than likely it was both of those. Sinbad remembered closing his eyes, and felt a tickle of warm breath against his cheek as Judal leaned up against him. Soft lips traced tentatively over his, as if the younger man was seeking to reclaim what had been taken from him. And, without really thinking, Sinbad left himself leaning that light and somewhat inexperienced kiss, persuading Judal's lips to part and to have a better taste. He had pulled the young Magi in; his slightly intoxicated mind telling him not to as his fingertips lightly ran over the smooth and subtle curve of Judal's waist. It was then he convinced himself the sweet kiss and tangy fruit were a bad idea, and gently pushed the other man from him.

"What are you...?" Sinbad began to ask, even if he felt that was partially his fault. Violent and painted eyelids opened slowly as Judal licked softly at his own lips curiously, yet had something of a mischievous grin playing over them. He reached out, taking his peach back with no real resistance.

"...Doing? Not much," a bangle laden hand caught the light, drawing teasingly over Sinbad's chest before Judal span round and went to leave, as though victorious. The king went to catch his hand, missed, and heard him laugh. The shock remained with Sinbad, both that he couldn't see him living this one down and...that it had been oddly enjoyable. "Haha! And I just stole a kiss from an idiot king this empire might someday crush underfoot. What are you going to do about it?"

Sinbad's mouth opened, closed, but he knew he wasn't all that amused. "...Not much. Hey!"

A dark blue of long hair and black clothing took to the rooftops and ran from sight; Judal laughing as he went. Even if Sinbad could have followed, he had the feeling he really wouldn't want to. Fingers running over his lips and frowning, he knew either way the dark Magi was already long gone.


	3. Chapter 3

_/waves/ thanks a lot for the reviews Narutogod123, Aku-chan and...stranger-san, follows etc, very much appreciated :) Alibaba and Aladdin meet! Kind of. With the SinxJudal stuff its...erm...complicated. Well, it usually is with them.  
_

_Enjoy~_

* * *

_**Chapter 3**_

_From birth, Aladdin had happened to have been blessed with a rare magic. This magic, the "Wisdom of Solomon" was something he was yet to understand, or even to know it was magic. At that point in time he had no control over the magic, and mainly it manifested itself in dreams which the young Magi forgot when he woke up. In less than a year, he would learn to utilise it as a magic, and could use it to discover someone's past – including his own – or their hidden memories. Sometimes, it would even reveal events yet to pass. Aside from his brother, no one knew about the dreams he couldn't yet remember, but he did know at the time they disturbed him greatly. On that night just before he left Kou, however, what he saw would haunt him, and those events would come to pass exactly one year after his dream._

_In his dream, Aladdin found himself in a curiously blurred landscape of a land far to the south and across the seas; one until that point he had never seen. The streets ran in sloping steps up a large, crescent shaped hill and were pale. He was standing under a banner of deep green and light gold he had never seen before. As he searched his surroundings, his azure eyes widened, and a chill ran down his spine._

_The scene was one of chaos. It lay filled with shattered stone, ice, and fractured marble along with, it finally dawned on him, smearing of spilled blood. Bodies he hoped were merely unconscious lay scattered all around him and just two people aside from him seemed to be moving. One was a crouching figure behind him, someone he appeared to be protecting, and an antagonistic figure a good deal ahead of him. He held a wooden staff in hand he had never seen before, and knew something very wrong had happened here; a sensation of foreboding welled up within him as that second figure approached slowly and silently. It floated slightly on the air, followed by a darkly shining trail of what appeared to be black rukh. But, then such a thing didn't exist._

_Behind him, a bloodied hand reached out and clung to Aladdin's ankle. He turned and looked down into light golden eyes, and hated the mingling of pain and fear within them. Whoever that man was he was protecting, he had a feeling they would seen encounter each other. And soon._

_"Aladdin..." that man gasped, pleading with him not to as he carefully broke from his grip and started forward. He needed to guard him, whoever he was, and it felt as though in turn that man had guarded him before. He watched that man grip an ornamental, knife-like blade and try to stand. But he couldn't. "No, just get out of here. This isn't something you should do."_

_"Don't be silly, I have to. Who else can fight here? You can't even get up."_

_"I won't stay back and let you fight your own brother..."_

_"Brother...?" Aladdin repeated quietly. Blinking, he wiped at his forehead before looking back to the approaching figure. It, along with those strange and dark, rukh-like things, were suddenly thrown into sharp relief. "...Onii-san? What do...did you do this to all these people? Why?"_

_That voice, and a voice he had known to comfort him his whole life, had just laughed back cruelly. Judal it seemed was enjoying the chaos immensely. Aladdin froze as he left how different he seemed, with both a smirk and eyes colder than he had ever seen them to be. He watched as shards of ice were sent hurtling towards him, and then cried out as they pierced his skin. He tried to make sense of this._

_"Ah, what was it again? I remember..." Aladdin heard his twin reply lazily. "It's what that witch said about you. This is funny chibi – did you know one of us isn't meant to exist? Yet we're both here. That means you need to die, as I don't want to. Before that then, how about we have some fun – I can show your king how stronger I am than you..."_

_"...What's wrong with you? Stop this right now."_

_"Huh? I just started having fun. Tell you what, chibi, call your pathetic king here back. He can help you, and I'll beat you both. Haha, have you seen him? He's all scattered in pieces behind you! So pathetic! Is that the best king you could choose you...fake?"_

_Aladdin paused. "Fake? What do you mean 'fake'?"_

_That hatred was so thick and vile, and he felt it as it seeped from his beloved brother and darkened the very world around him. It was sickening how that dark glow of black rukh seemed to twist anything, everything, within that cloudless day. All that time, it took all Aladdin had to resist falling into that hopelessness. It was crushing, overwhelming, and pulled at every inch of him. All he could do was wonder; how had things ended up that way...?_

Aladdin woke up with a start.

Slowly the young Magi's azure eyes blinked, then widened, and he was aware of little else than his own trembling body and how his skin was filmed in cold sweat. After several moments his mind had the sense to remind him that he had been asleep, and dreaming, and thankfully that dream was passed. Still shivering he drew his knees up to his chest, silken and white dress pants cool and comforting on his cheek and composed himself. He ran a clammy hand absently through his long blue fringe and tried futilely to remember his dream. As always, he couldn't, and regretted he forgot such things; even if it seemed an unpleasant thing to remember.

Silently he slipped off his bed, stretched, and gazed about him. Beyond the crack in the deep crimson slide door, he could see outside the sun was only just raising. He would very soon be leaving Kou, and for a year, and he told himself that it would be alright. And then he told himself the same thing again for good measure.

He stepped over his immaculate, yet now rather empty looking side of the room. It was even more distinct where the darkly lit, red and shadow room become his brother's. It was heavy with the laden perfume of incense, and was something of a treasure trove with its scattered and glittering expanse of dungeon items and jewels. Judal would insist that everything was exactly where he wanted. In a sense, it struck Aladdin to be something of an organised chaos – the emphasis being on the chaotic part. He carefully picked his way over, poling gently at his sleeping brother's slim shoulder before giving it a firmer shake.

"What..." he was met with a highly disinterested groan. A head of tangled ebony hair raised from its dark pillows and shifted to face him. Ruby eyes gazed up sleepily, and Aladdin knew that he had someone who would always help him get over his forgotten nightmares. "...It's the middle of the night. Go to sleep."

"It's morning," he corrected him. "Onii-san, I had one of those dreams again."

"What..." he was met with a highly disinterested groan, and a head of tangled ebony hair

"Eh? Did you remember this one?" Judal reluctantly shifted to sitting and looked over his twin curiously, and watched him shaking his head. "Hm, you look really terrible."

"Thanks...I guess. I'm alright," for some reason Aladdin couldn't remember, he and Judal had decided never to tell anyone about his nightmares. It seemed silly to say anything if he couldn't remember them, and he never would have thought they would have been related to magic. However, in a year's time he would know better. "But...well...the next time I have one I'll be in Sindria, won't I? And you'll be here..."

Judal just nodded, disinterested as they had talked about this already. "Chibi, stop being annoying about this alright? It's just a year so just think about getting as strong as me, OK? Then Kou will have two powerful Magi."

"...I just want to hit you when you say things like that," Aladdin admitted. Annoyed he slipped off his brother's messy bed. And looked over his own spotless and vacant side of the room. No, he hadn't forgotten anything as he was usually prepared. He knew if his brother had been leaving, it would have been a different story. "Fine...if me leaving isn't a big deal then just go back to sleep."

"...Huh?! You can't just wake someone up and tell them to go back to sleep, idiot."

"I just did though," of course, every one of those tumbled dungeon items were from a dungeon Judal had raised. Aladdin, conversely, had never been asked to choose a king nor had he raised a dungeon. How could he do any of that alone?

Judal flopped back, sheets tangling round his black clad and slender body. "That's so cold...first that idiot king and now you..."

"You started it. But you really should just stop going after him; he's not interested in you anyway," Aladdin paused as he caught sight of his reflection in the mirror. It was then that he had an idea. Looking back at his somewhat troubled and puzzled expression, he drew out a thin section of his long and loose azure hair. Running his fingers through the shining strands he started to weave it into a braid, both carefully and slowly. "You know that Kougyoku always says if someone doesn't like you then you can't make them."

"What does that hag know anyway? She just says that as no one likes her," Aladdin continued his work, and heard a loud and defeatist sigh uttered behind him. "Well...whatever then. He's really old anyway. I got my first kiss from him, so I can move on."

For a moment, and just as Aladdin reached the smooth end of his new and slim plait, those words dawned on him and he snapped round sharply. "You...wait, what? How is that fair? When do I get my first kiss?"

"Eh? How the heck should I know something like that? Anyway chibi, you're my younger brother – you won't be kissing anyone."

"...Like you can stop me finding someone. And you keep saying we're not children anymore," bordering on angry, Aladdin drew out a small knife from the pocket of his dress pants before cutting off the thin section of hair he had woven into a braid from his fringe. He told himself this was just how Judal was, and coiled the long azure threads neatly into his palm before picking his way back over to his brother. There he placed it before him, who looked down at it with a curious yet softened expression. "See, if you have this with you it's like we're together. I'm going to miss you, even if you're not going to miss you."

"I'll miss you, but you just get weird about it."

"...Whatever, now let me have a section of your hair. I'll do it, you'll just do it wrong and mess it up."

"...You're so bossy and clingy," Judal complained. He yawned, and it was then the concept of cutting off part of his hair – the same hair he was so vain over and had never cut – crept up on him. His eyes widened in shock, saw his brother was serious, and frowned slightly. Silently he looked down, fingers running through the dark, satiny threads as if fussing over them. it might have been either deciding which he could give away, or thought were the best, it seemed weird to Aladdin. It was a logical Aladdin didn't understand – hair was hair, after all.

He appeared to make up his mind, drawing out a long lock and catching his brother's eyes as he caught hold of it before weaving it dexterously yet with the same care. He then resumed talking. "Look, chibi, life's not going to be fair from now on, that idiot king told me. A lot of those candidates don't win. That legend they kept telling us when we were young says eventually just one king is going to unite all countries under him. He'll probably kill the people he doesn't like, as it shows he's better."

Plaiting the black strands, Aladdin just glared. "It's a stupid reason to kill someone."

"Not really, it's why they saved us when our parents were murdered. They knew we could make sure someone in Kou wins."

"I just don't like the sound of that," Aladdin insisted. He knew Judal would say something like it being fine, as it's what they were for. He never thought it was fine, it seemed wrong. On that morning and in his final hours in Kou, and even a year later, his thoughts on the matter stubbornly remained the same.

* * *

Thousands of miles away to the south, and to the far side of the seven seas, lay the sunlit and colourful island kingdom of Sindria. Within a large airy and cream-toned room of the hospital wing an exiled prince stared out over the lush palace gardens. He lay within his hospital bed, slowly blinked his light golden eyes over the sight and was waiting for his rather severe injuries to heal. They were taking their time to do so, but then the prince was lucky to be alive. He had been the leader of his Fog Troupe, and had recently attempted to lead a coup d'état for Balbadd. The memories of those terrible days only returned to him in fevered days, however. On that tragic day, he was told he had almost died before being saved from his home where it now lay in fire and ashes. His name was Alibaba Saluja.

It had been, only really been in the past days when his fever had gone down and he had been in any real condition to remain awake. Before then the days were a blur of violent nightmares that all seems to blend into one another. He attempted to sit up, in fact he was adamant to do so, and let out a sharp cry as he did. Pain flooded out from a particularly nasty gash running up his body, and his arm clutched over it.

"D-don't do that! You'll open your injures back up. Lie down right now!" there was, in fact, another prince in exile within Sindria. But then for all Alibaba's knowledge of the situation, there may be more than that. This particular nervous prince had allegedly been tending to his injuries for a reason he didn't know. It certainly didn't seem a very princely thing to do, but then all he knew was his two half brothers and they wouldn't do something like that. His name was Hakuryuu Ren.

"Ah...this is nothing. I feel great..." he collapsed back with a groan. It was, admittedly, a rather painful nothing. He couldn't remember his body feeling this bad, but he didn't feel like he had any right to complain. He reached up, a hand passing through his messy short blonde hair and sighed deeply. How useless he felt right now. "Erm...should a prince really be doing something like that?"

He noticed Hakuryuu had brought back a shallow bowl of warm water, and clean white strips of cloth to tend to the numerous stab wounds latticed over his chest and stomach. A cloth was run over his burning skin and he let out a slight cry.

"S-sorry!" Hakuryuu murmured quietly. "Well...a lot of people aren't back from Balbadd yet. As I've done like this before I thought I'd offer to help. I wanted to make myself useful, you know. Just...please bear with the pain. It won't take long."

"Erm...OK. Thanks..." Alibaba murmured. He really had no idea how to deal with a proper prince, not an illegitimate one like him who had spent half his life in the slums. Quietly he looked over at Hakuryuu as he continued his work instead. He noticed how the left side of his face was darkened by a rather unfortunate scar as if he was burned, and that eye was a little brighter than the other. Somewhat fascinated he looked over his odd toned blue eyes, only looking away when Hakuryuu noticed him and attempted to stare at the ceiling instead.

It really was quiet, but rather than empty felt peaceful somehow. Alibaba closed his eyes, feeling that cloth be dipped in water and returned to his aching body, and thought back to what had happened. Vaguely he remembered Hakuryuu had treated him throughout those feverish dreams. He was fairly sure in those broken moments he had ill-wittedly told the follow prince of what little he remembered had happened in Balbadd. That he blamed himself; but then he knew most of the Fog Troupe, including his childhood friend from the slums Kassim, had likely perished. When Kou had reputedly come to help, and in doing so had swallowed Balbadd whole, he remembered vaguely hearing any of the thieves they caught had been executed. Alibaba had been so powerless to do anything; but then if the men from this kingdom hadn't saved him he would have died.

If that wasn't enough to accept, he remembered Hakuryuu telling him that the quiet prince was actually originally from Kou. It was then he remembered something Hakuryuu had asked him, and looked back at him. "You know, I don't hate you."

"Ah, that's good. I mean..."Hakuryuu considered him with a polite interest. To be honest, Alibaba had no idea why the other man cared what he thought. Even if he had been a legitimate heir, by now the Saluja name would be all but sullied by now. But – that was it. Because of how Kou acted, few people apparently welcomed Hakuryuu even if he had claimed sanctuary in Sindria a long time ago. Kou, it seemed, was less and less trusted.

"I mean it."

A polite smile and a bow. Such things interested Alibaba really, as Hakuryuu didn't seem arrogant or condescending in the slightest. He looked down, watching a veil of deep blue hair descend as Hakuryuu started to conceal more and more of his bruised and pale body under those heavy bandages. What a curious person; even the rigid black and white attire he wore gave the impression of being both approachable and respectful at the same time. He seemed so kind...perhaps that was what a true prince should be like.

"Thank you," Hakuryuu replied. That left eye, certainly, seemed a little too bright and seemed to pierce straight though him. He finished smoothing the strips of cloth, checking them expertly before sitting back with his hands clasped together. "I'm sorry; I'm just not all that trusted here, being where I'm from. I guess it's fairly logical to hate someone from a place like that but...well it's not all that nice to be on the receiving end. People don't seem to want me here and I feel a bit of a nuisance. I have been here a while, actually, but then right now Kou is..."

Hakuryuu's quiet voice trailed to what Alibaba felt was a little of a pained silence. He guessed he didn't want to speak much of his home, and felt he could understand that. Right now he felt it was best not to ask too much about that.

"I did hear they took over Balbadd after my...revolt failed," he replied quietly, and watched Hakuryuu's face drain of colour. "I have been awake at times. Someone said they had executed my friends..." the other prince's hands clasped together almost painfully, Alibaba noticed curiously. "Well, it's my fault, anyway. I should have been stronger. If I was, none of that would have happened."

"No," Hakuryuu shook his head adamantly. "My cousin Kouen I heard wasn't that kind to your friends when he took over. I'm...so sorry..."

Alibaba felt his fists clench and said quietly. "No...but then neither was Abhmad..."

" I did here, but still I am sorry," Hakuryuu composed himself, bowing his head. "I really shouldn't be upsetting you when you're recovering still. At least you had an excuse, telling me about Kassim and the slums and borrowing those strange magical weapons from strangers when you were feverish..." Alibaba paled. It really did seem he had said too much for his own good over those days. "But...so you know, I don't like that Kouen did that. I do have good reason to hate Kou too; especially two men giving it power...two brothers..."

The bright darkness in Hakuryuu's left eye sparked to life again. "Say; when I'm better you can tell me about why you left there," Alibaba offered. Even if it was difficult to gauge his fellow prince's reactions, he was either calm or polite or broiling with that curious fury, he guessed he was pleasantly surprised for the offer. "I guess right now we're in similar situations."

"I guess we are, oddly enough," Hakuryuu replied. He was apparently done with re-bandaging his wounds, and had taken to scanning over the nearby table. Amongst other things lay the ornate and richly decorated knife Alibaba used. By it he noticed two crimson earrings and his chest tightened; they had belonged to Kassim. That felt all he had left of his friend now. "So...I'm wondering now. Once you've recovered, would you want to think about taking back Balbadd? I mean, I could help..."

The very thought of seeing his home again terrified Alibaba, really, even if he didn't want to admit it to himself. "Ah, that seems what I should be thinking about, doesn't it?"

"Perhaps. But I right now it's getting you well again. Saying something like that isn't helping..."Hakuryuu admitted to himself, before rising to dispose of those discarded dressings. Alibaba murmured quiet thanks, following him with his eyes. Right how he felt like all he could do was lay there, with fatigue pressing upon his aching body so much. "I was just remembering sensei – sorry, Sharrkan – telling me about when he met you in Sram. He said you had a lot of potential, and could likely beat a dungeon and get stronger. Well...that seems kind of fun. Maybe, well, we could do that. And train together. I-I mean not right now but –"

Alibaba smiled, softly, even if he felt he would never do such a thing again. It wouldn't hurt to do that, he told himself. "I think that could be fun. I-"

Their conversation was cut abruptly short. The heavy door from the far end of the hospital wing opened, and a stream of long and deep red hair rushed through it. Its owner, a petite girl in a simple white tunic, bounded up to meet them. As she did, Morgianna gave Alibaba an almost apologetic smile. She eyed over his bandaged body with concern. "Alibaba, I –"

"It looks worse than it is," he told her calmly. He noticed that in her hand she held tightly an uncurled letter, which he guessed was addressed to her. He knew the girl couldn't read, yet, as she had until recently been a slave but then he aimed to teach her. She clutched her bare and bruised knees before holding the letter out for him, and he took it. He noticed Hakuryuu look over at them curiously before he gave him a reassuring look and scanned the letter's contents.

"Is Musrur alright?" she asked abruptly, and before he had quite finished scanning the contents. More than likely she would recognise the careful handwriting of her fellow Fanalis, even if she didn't know what it meant. During the brief time they had met the tall general in Balbadd, he knew she had grown fascinated with the man. But then, she had never met another Fanalis before.

He nodded before re-reading the letter more carefully. "Of course. He said he hopes you got here safely," she nodded. "He's writing from when they were just getting to Kou. More than likely they'll be back in a few weeks. Sinbad apparently had an agreement to take back one of their Magi to study here and –"

There was a loud crash behind them, and they both turned.

Hakuryuu had knelt down from the other side of the room as he took to retrieving pieces of the fractured bowl he had dropped. He spoke in his usual quiet tone, but it carried. "R-Really? It says that? No...he can't be bringing one of those twins back here with him?!"

"...Twins?" Alibaba asked him curiously. He had only really heard of Magi in passing during his years at the palace. During that time, he definitely hadn't been deemed important enough to meet one. Morgianna was confused over what one even was. Carefully he re-rolled the letter and passed it back to her.

"I did mention having a reason to hate Kou, and it was two brothers. Do you remember?" Alibaba did remember; it hadn't been long ago since he mentioned that. That brightness had returned to Hakuryuu's left eye as he drew back up. "They're two brothers responsible for all the bad things the empire is doing to its people. Only bad things happened since they got there. I hate to say it, but only bad things will follow if one of them comes to Sindria."


	4. Chapter 4

_Huge thanks to Akumarayne and everyone reading this  
_

_Enjoy~_

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_**Chapter 4**_

It would be that fateful morning for Judal when so much would change, yet at the same time somehow remain the same.

The hours had crept by slowly since Aladdin had left Kou, and during that time he had not moved from the tree he sat curled up in. He looked out over the grimy stone docks, and after a while stared, almost longingly, at the ocean. Slowly the rough ground darkened under the increasing pressure of rain. He felt strange, really, even if he had been the one insisting his brother go to Sindria and he remained here in the first place. Before the two said their farewell, he decided such a thing was for the best and thus didn't understand why it fazed him. Yet it did. Even if he didn't quite understand why, it seemed the world around him had grown somewhat darker and less pleasant without his twin brother there.

That statement of Aladdin, of not pursuing someone who would never be interested in him, was engraved on his mind. Surprisingly he felt that was right, and he acknowledged there was no point in pursuing Sinbad and that childish dream anymore. He didn't feel quite himself however, and just admitting defeat on such at thing didn't seem like him, somehow.

On that day, however, Judal didn't attribute his doubt to be partially due to the gathering shadowy smog gradually permeating the docks surrounding him. He wasn't even paying much attention to how those small, strange scatterings of shining darkness that looked like black rukh were steadily more pronounced. Right now, after all he just felt – so – empty, even if he insisted on it being just his imagination.

He remained within that tall tree staring out into that veil of blackness on that soaked morning, not really thinking of anything but his brother. As he did, his fingers had gathered and ran through the long, deep azure streak running through a slim section of his extremely long ebony fringe. Literally the moment they had parted, Judal had decided to weave the braid given to him into his hair as if from a fitful and hilarious notion he would lose such a thing if he didn't. It was now a seamless part of the hair he was so vain about. It was strange, but it was really dawning on him just how they had never been apart and that affected him more than it should. Why was he, of all people, feeling like this?

With a deep breath and heavy sigh, Judal noticed something moving slowly towards him. Wishing to distract himself, his ruby eyes flicked and became curious as Gyokuen approached him with two of - those - strange men in tow. The surrounding morning grew steadily darker as the three figures closed in on him. He had never been that settled around that witch, he remembered. But then he wasn't too confident about men who covered their faces, either.

Those strange men had become steadily more numerous within the palace grounds over the years, as had those strange black specks he often saw floating on the air. He always assumed those men were guards of some sort. Even if they never uttered a word, they were unsettling and often were nearby when he and Aladdin had studied or needed guarding. He, at least, found them interesting enough to stalk when the mood took him. Each of them seemed to wear white cloth to conceal their face, which was held in place by a crown of dark thorns. And they all carried their own, unique black and strange weapons which tended to spark with an equally strange magic even he couldn't place.

"We have been looking everywhere for you, Lord Priest..." Gyokuen smiled softly up to him from where he sat up in that tree. He nodded as he uncurled his body, and dropped off the branch to the wet ground below him obediently. He disliked confronting the woman, after all, and scanned the two men she stood in the middle of with open interest. "Poor thing, do you really miss your little brother so much already? I'm sorry, but he'll be back soon enough."

"It's not that bad..." he muttered and wondered what she wanted. Gyokuen's eyes lingered over that azure line running through his hair, as if she didn't understand what it was. "Ah! That was just some stupid idea chibi had; he's such a brat sometimes it's annoying! So what did you want? And, eh, who are these guys?" he jabbed the air with his thumb towards the taller of the men, who gazed over him slowly and that lingering look made unsettled him. "They look really strange you know..."

"They do a bit, don't they?" she agreed conversationally. "But then, Judal, you've found out a bit about Al-Thamen, haven't you? Ithnan says you've spied and followed them about. And asked questions about them." His eyes widened, and Judal certainly hadn't heard of Al-Thamen or even one of these strange people talk. Ithnan was that taller one, it seemed, who stood to her right and continued to watch him. Gyokuen cleared her throat. "Sadly, you're not quite as subtle or smart as you think you are; but don't worry. They're just here to ask you a question."

"A question?"

"Would you like the power to overtake you brother, boy?" Ithnan's voice was low and gravelly when he spoke and the tall man leaned on a tall black stave. Those cold, lifeless eyes scanned over Judal's body from behind the chequered mask he wore. They weren't normal, or possibly safe, men it seemed.

Judal nodded, telling himself Ithnan didn't make his skin crawl. After all, no one should make him nervous. "Well, yeah, that's obvious. I'm older so of course I should be stronger."

Gyokuen's constant smile widened slightly. "That's good, not that I doubted you wouldn't want to be stronger. This is Markkio," her soft eyes flicked to the shorter and broader of the two Al-Thamen men. "They both will teach you many fascinating things."

"Teach?" Judal repeated. They looked like mad men, to him. However it was a more unsettling eccentricity compared to the stuffy and self important magicians he was used to. The type who bored him, unless they talked about something interesting like ice magic. The rain grew steadily darker and heavier, and he tried not to notice it had worsened since their arrival. "What can I learn from pervert weirdoes who wear masks anyway? Are they really ugly or something?"

Ithnan didn't seem too offended by that. Instead he reached in, drawing the black and ruby sceptre out from where Judal stashed it. His eyes widened and instinctually the dark Magi backed away, insulted he'd get that close but Gyokuen glanced at him. Irritated he stayed still, watching Ithnan caused the sceptre to spark with curious black light before reaching in to hand it back to him. His fingers remained gripped over Judal's as he did. ""For one thing, boy, I could tell you that wasn't some common djinn given to you. Weren't you curious how such a thing was brought into this world?" Judal shook his head. "Not one for questions? Very well. Back in Balbadd and during that revolt, we were secretly there. We fused a man's soul to black rukh as he took his life. This djinn is different from the one I'm told your brother uses."

With a final and slow stroke over his fingers, Ithnan released him. Judal snatched back his hand and sceptre almost angrily and couldn't believe Gyokuen allowed that mad man to touch him, but thought better than to answer back to the Empress. Either way, he cared little about a man who died in a revolt. That demon-like creature with its black wings, however, was certainly interesting and powerful. "Eh? Black rukh? What the heck are they?"

Markkio turned to him, and he was a bizarre looking man. His eyes were uneven and wild, as much as Ithnan's were cold and void of life. Judal noticed three crimson dots running vertically down his forehead, focusing on them as Markkio spoke in a high and creepily cheerful voice. "Black rukh are what our organisation has been bringing into existence, young oracle. With your help, soon there will be a lot of them and we will teach you to use them effectively. And that is how you'll become strong, and lend us your power."

Power appealed to him, certainly. Judal paused. "Hang on. You didn't seem to want me using Kassim in front of people, like Sinbad or anyone?" Ithnan nodded at him. "But I was going to go to Sindria. You know I was going to take Kassim and use him there, right?"

"You could have tried, but it wouldn't have worked," Gyokuen informed him. "Outside Kou, there are few places which hold black rukh. Soon there will be more. But without black rukh, you can't summon a black djinn. Kassim as you call it was a test, and its purpose was just to see how it – and you – fared against Ugo. We wanted to see who won; and it seems Aladdin is much stronger."

"Even so, I like the feel of his one. The boy has so much doubt and confusion around him. And he wants power..." Ithnan said in a low, weighted voice. The staring, touching his hand...everything about the man just made Judal want to take his stave and hit him with it. Hard.

Judal scratched his head. "I don't get what you mean by that. I don't doubt myself and you know, getting stronger than chibi can't be so hard..."

Ithnan shook his head. "You'll understand this soon. Exposing someone to these black rukh means making them curse their fate. They fall to depravity, and come to understand true despair as everything they care for is taken from them. They feel their very emotions wither away, and become very different people. From that moment their bodies and minds – and ours – are fuelled by our worst fears and nightmares."

"Eh?!" Judal _had_ to have heard that wrong. "What kind of weirdo would want to go and do something so stupid like that anyway? You're so creepy!"

"Enough," Gyokuen warned him softly. "You don't need to be so offensive, Lord Priest; you're special and that's why they're going to make you strong. And isn't being strong important to you?"

Judal paused. Something within him warned him this wasn't a request, but an order; and he didn't like this at all. "Right so...these weir-people are going to be teaching me about this depravity stuff and black rukh? Is this alright, really?"

"If it wasn't, it's not like you have a choice anyway. But you won't regret it. Soon you'll be capable of things you – and Al-Thamen – never dreamed of," Gyokuen told him.

He felt himself being led away from those filthy docks on that dark, rainy morning by those two strange men. He doubted he could stop that happening. For now they remained silent, and were perhaps content to start whatever they had planned for him as soon as possible. Judal had no idea what would happen, and wish he had remained ignorant to those he had curiously stalked for years. Whatever they would do, he doubted it would be confining him study in some old and dusty library. He would have preferred that, or leading someone through a dungeon; or anything but this.

* * *

It had been years since the last time Aladdin had seen the ocean properly, and aside from the rather unpleasant docks back in Kou. Even if he and his brother had in the past studied magic in a far off land, they had been obsessively guarded by the empire when they were. This was different, however. As right now here he was, floating up within the cloudless blue sky and high above the blue and turning tides. He was even bound for Sindria, and he had never been there before. Within his anticipation his only regret was being away from his brother. Judal and he had been parted for hours now, but even if he missed him he was glad to be away from Kou. Those flat and tense lands which had imprisoned him were no longer even a blue on the horizon. He felt free, and he had never felt truly free before.

It transpired he was feeling nowhere near as lonely as he thought he was, and hoped his brother was the same. For now, Sinbad and the others seemed to be nursing hangovers below deck still and he was free to enjoy that beautiful morning. As none of the small crew were in sight, this really felt like all his. How different the world was, void of the empire and being told he was special and his power was needed. Even better, it seemed that until this small ship would return to Balbadd to rendezvous with the rest of Sindria's fleet he was free to enjoy this new freedom all he wished.

So he allowed him to fly there, and scanned over the waves far below happily. At least he did until his musings were interrupted by a dizzily flash of crackling light as it came hurtling upwards from the once vacant decks of the ship far below him. It collided and dissipated in the clear air meters ahead of Aladdin and harmlessly into the momentarily brightened and expansive skies. He looked down, body twisting easily in the light breeze to eye at the lone figure staring up at him.

Sinbad seemed to be more sober than the Magi had thought. The foreign king lowered his long, glowing blade and waved up to him in greeting. The man's arms and body were dressed in a familiar sheen of deep cerulean, armour like draconic scales, and long and ivory toned horns protruded from under a mane of light blue hair. Aladdin remembered this to be a dungeon equip of his, as he had seen Sinbad use it numerous times before. If he remembered currently it was Baal's, and the first the then aspiring king had attained. The figure below him was for now bathed brightly under the weight of the thousands of dazzling rukh surrounding him. The brilliance was bright enough that even Aladdin felt like looking away.

Aladdin dropped down, silently and harmlessly, through the warm air and landed in front of Sinbad, drawing into a respectful bow before standing. He felt as though that equip was definitely a lot stronger than it had been the last time he had seen it. But then Sinbad had also grown steadily more powerful over the years; to the point even Kou were noticing him after all.

"You know, that's a sight I never get tired of," Sinbad told him as he re-sheathed Baal's sword at his side. The surrounding air dimmed and faded as the man's appearance reverted and changed. Aladdin blinked and rubbed his eyes as he did. "Whenever I ran into you and your brother, I always wondered how remarkable it would be to just fly up into the sky like that."

"I couldn't resist it. It feels like they just grounded me in Kou all that time. It's really nice up there, but it's a shame there's no clouds," Aladdin told him. "It's really exciting flying through one of those."

Sinbad eyed over him curiously. "You fly through clouds? What does that feel like?"

Aladdin had never been asked that before, and thought how to describe it. "It's a strange sensation. It feels a lot like fighting with onii-san; really cold. And after a while all you want to do is sneeze a lot."

"Speaking of Judal-"

"Mm, I remember. You kissed him didn't you?" Aladdin watched amber eyes widen before Sinbad turned away, clearing his throat as if his calm composure was momentarily shattered. "Ah, so it's true then? He told me that last night."

"Aha...I don't recall doing anything of the sort," he laughed, and a little too loudly, and crossed his tanned arms over his light robes. Aladdin felt he remembered such a thing extremely well, however. "I think I really need to stop drinking in Kou. Whenever I do, someone somewhere always ends up accusing me of doing indecent things."

"Then maybe you should stop doing indecent things to them," Aladdin replied sweetly.

Again, Sinbad cleared his throat and leaned out over the railing, staring up into the sky. "So – flying through a cloud..." he pondered, as though to change the subject, or possibly to run far away. A moment later the blinding cloud of rukh gathered around him a second time as he raised his left arm, and the silver bracelet on it shone momentarily brightly. Eagerly Aladdin looked over this other equip, as he had not seen this curious form before. Sinbad's hair had reddened and lengthened, becoming feather-like. He looked something like a shadowy vermillion bird with his now clawed fingers and piercing golden eyes. Without another thought, he launched himself up into the skies, "I feel like searching for one of those, as well."

"H-hey!" deep azure eyes widened in surprise before Aladdin followed him up curiously. "I never saw Focalor's one; and I didn't know you could fly, too."

He smiled back at the Magi. "It would be a shame to let people like you have all the fun.""Mm, maybe. I don't think goi were meant to fly though-" the moment he said that, Aladdin clapped a pale hand to his mouth apologetically. "A-ah! I'm really sorry. They said that wasn't a nice word to use."

Sinbad didn't seem too concerned about it. "As you studied in Magnostadt you must have heard people call people that. Over there I heard they're pretty set with how they view things, I heard."

"Yes. We studied there a while," Aladdin had fond memories of the place. Of the floating, numerous devices shimmering above the spires of the tall, scarlet and gold buildings. Of the clean and wide streets; how colourful it all was and how fascinating the people were. The academy and its many dark floors, rich with the musty scent of so many old books. The hum of rukh was so very loud there, to the point it felt as though they were united in song. "But they're a little strange with g-non magicians. But they were really nice to onii-san and I. They were upset when we had to leave early, but things got too dangerous to stay there."

"Dangerous?" Sinbad inquired, and he nodded. "I understand they don't let any non magicians immigrate there. I hear that includes family members who can't utilise magic, and any spouses from entering too. Not that I heard of any who really want to go there."

"I remember we weren't allowed out of the academy much. But they're so strict with us anyway," Aladdin recalled. Of course, there wasn't many times were he and Judal hadn't been carefully guarded from any wishing to harm or capture them. It seemed so unnecessary, given how strong they were; but insisting that just got him told he was naive and knew little of the world. "If you've ever seen those silent and creepy men who cover their faces, they were in Magnostadt and were watching us. Apparently they caused so trouble, so we all had to leave."

"So these strange men are all magicians, or else they'd never have gotten into Magnostadt. Interesting. This was a few years ago, correct?" he nodded, and Sinbad fell into deep thought. "I guess that's why your Empress was so interested to discover Yamaraiha was in Sindria, then. She was exiled from there, you know."

"I know Gyokuen said that magician-miss was exceptional. If she wasn't, they'd not have let one of us go. Ah...they've always been so suffocating all our lives..." he composed himself, and this time he was the one to change the subject. "You know though, I should write onii-san and tell him about that equip. Even if he said he got his kiss and wouldn't chase you anymore, I think he'll be happy for you." A very strange shadow passed over those brilliant eyes, and at those words Sinbad's smile faded. Aladdin wasn't too sure what to make of that. "How long did it take you to master all those equips, anyway?"

"Erm- a long time?"

"You don't remember how long it was?"

"...You don't have to say it quite like that. As it is, seeing you and Judal all grown when I remember you as small children makes me feel old...er than you both."

"You're not old," Aladdin said softly. "Even if onii-san says you are he's just teasing."

Sinbad took a heavy, and resigned breath. "That sounds like him alright..."

"He's just annoyed still that you never accepted our – well, his – help back when we met you. He just always wanted to pick you as a king and was annoying going on about how strong and amazing you are. So anyway, he'll be happy you can go flying with me."

"Even if he doesn't like me now he finally got his damned kiss..." Sinbad muttered quietly. However he descended as if to avoid being asked about that, and Aladdin followed him down to the ship. The Magi gripped a shiny apple off one of the numerous barrels decorating the sea-water streaked deck and hopped up on the railings to eat it. "Back then I thought that dungeons weren't a safe place for children. I didn't even know who or what you two were when we first met; and I understand most of what I know about Magi from you both. As for Judal...he's really just too..."

"Hm?" Aladdin inquired, breaking off from savouring the tangy fruit and swallowing heavily. When it came to Judal's somewhat ill-fated affections for the foreign king, after all, he worked out over the years it was best off not to get involved.

Sinbad shook his head. "It's alright. But you know, I heard that far to the east of Kou, people still think magic is a bad thing."

Aladdin straightened up curiously, excited about if he'd get to hear one of the foreign king's stories of the foreign lands he had not yet seen. "Really, way past the empire you mean?" He nodded. "I read about that a bit, past those countries Kou is emancipating. Have you been there?"

Sinbad passed him another apple, which Aladdin took eagerly, and leaned on the railings. "Emancipating, hm? Scary to say it like that. But there was this one time, when the oceans proved calm enough for us to dare sail out that far. And you would never, ever believe what sights came to us when we stepped onto those strange shores..."


	5. Chapter 5

_Big thanks to SmileRen and Akumarayne for the reviews, and everyone else who is reading this. And yes, finally Alibaba and Aladdin meet (and I need to sleep).  
_

_Enjoy~_

* * *

_**Chapter 5**_

Two months had passed since Kouen Ren had taken Balbadd, and it seemed to him the violence within the ruined kingdom had finally settled. Even so, Sram was barely recognisable under the many rows of tall black tents bearing Kou's flag, which carefully concealed the razed and destroyed streets. The First Prince remembered twenty years ago, when those same narrow paths had been crowded with floods of colour and noise, and its bustling commerce. Now however the country was reduced to sharp, white rubble and extinguished fires. The air felt so heavy, and left a dismal scene in its wake. Kouen would have wanted to rectify that, but as he was not yet emperor he needed to follow the orders he was given.

The very spirit of Balbadd, and its past glory, seemed all but bled dry there. From the very moment Kouen's forces had arrived to lend aid, it seemed they were the ones blamed and resented in that failed revolt of weeks before. Kouen had entered Balbadd, and the first things to greet him were the execution orders for the Fog Troupe, and to sell Balbadd's citizens as collateral for the country's debt to Kou. It was depressing work, and he hardly counted himself a man harsh enough for this. Yet he knew better than to go against Gyokuen. For now he watched over what was left of Sram from the largest of the tents, whilst considering what he could do to help with this sordid and unpleasant affair. Not a lot, he was not yet emperor and as such his hands were tied. It seemed he would resolve to learn what he could from this place whilst he was there.

He resided within that large black tent. And Kouen was not too far from the vacated Balbadd palace which itself lay in fractures of gold and marble. The General-Commander of Kou's Western Subjugation Army ran a hand through his dark red hair and tried not to think of it. Instead his piercing and pale scarlet eyes scanned over a man he considered more friend than enemy, at least for now. The empire would, perhaps, want him to consider the King of Sindria an enemy, rather than someone Kouen had aspired to.

"I think stories like that are more appealing. Either way it's informing people of the dangers of the world I guess," Sinbad was saying. The two sat on elaborate cushions on the tent floor for now. He was fully aware the king had visited Kou, and was on his way back to his country soon. "See, you were telling those legends to your Magi and siblings from a young age. I can't help thinking that the stories you grow up aspired by should be a little less...morbid. Those legends will all lead to explaining how there will be one king in the end, who needs to kill all others. To me, people just prefer tales of exotic places and sea monsters."

"Perhaps. But then the Toran legends are true. Not you exaggerating things," Kouen replied calmly. "I'm not saying they aren't interesting. But I didn't tell those stories to people as some amoral tyrant. Instead, it's a just and wise conqueror that will unite the world under his rule. But I guess it's what you read into it."

Sinbad nodded slowly. "Perhaps. As you see yourself as this one king, it's a way of assuring Judal and Aladdin helped you. And your siblings and cousins support you as you see yourself as that person. But then, it's not like Kou is that kind right now."

"I'm still doing what I can until I'm emperor, as you've seen. And the Magi picked me first," he rubbed along his chiselled jaw and the wisp of a red beard adorning his chin. Kouen didn't need reminding that Sinbad shared his aspirations. But then many shared them, of course. "At least you're doing yourself a favour and cooperating with us more, I'd hate to be your enemy one day."

"To be honest, I think if a Magi claimed I was a king of legend I think I'd believe those old stories a lot more as well. I don't mind dealing with Kou, at least for the moment," he raised a slim eyebrow at the man curiously. To Kouen, it seemed that man had been more than a little underhanded recently. Perhaps Sinbad was just as interested in becoming the one king, and the legends as he was. Either way, he was certainly a lot more difficult to read these days.

Kouen stretched and leaned back, palms scratching against the scratchy canvas of the tent's dark floor as he did. As the head of long and tangled scarlet hair shifted in the corner of said tent, he looked over at Koumei curiously. "Just be glad my brother isn't awake. He's a lot more enthusiastic about those legends than I am. But then I also think he's read everything you wrote about your adventures too."

"That's always nice to hear. I don't think he'll wake anytime soon, however..." Littered around Koumei were numerous books, both beyond priceless and ancient, along with various yellowed manuscripts the two brothers had been consulting earlier. Kouen knew his treasured younger brother was losing weight again, as in strenuous times like this his health tended to suffer. Right now his sleeping form looked almost swathed in his deep maroon clothing as a result. His slender fingers were blemished, and were clutched against the long, black feathered fan which housed his metal vessel. "But all this can't be good for him."

"No, it's not. I'm amazed he's getting any sleep," the First Prince replied quietly. "But he gets ahead of himself. I'm just glad he's not still into the habit of falling asleep in chairs anymore –believe it or not he's heavier than he looks."

Sinbad laughed slightly. "Maybe it would be better to send him back to Kou. It's fairly aggressive here right now."

Kouen gave that man he admired a piercing look, who fell silent. That was one of the last things he'd do. Even if he rarely spoke of them, he certainly had his suspicions of Kou, and those strange and sinister men who frequented his empires' lands. Kouen knew full well they were the orchestrators of the events here, even if that was a secret. After all, Abhmad had been raving those same black magicians had driven the incompetent yet naive king to sell his own people and country to slavery. The Fog Troupe, when alive, had collectively insisted the dark weaponry fuelling their revolution had been supplied by those same men. He wasn't sure what to think, other than Gyokuen had given him a highly unpleasant situation to resolve.

He was, of course, intelligent enough to not ask any questions about those strange magicians. In his twenty-eight years he was increasingly grateful for the time he spent anyway from Kou, either conquering lands or studying the texts Koumei adored so much. However, whenever he had been requested to return to Kou, he knew there were more and more of those shadowy men. At moments like this he had some idea of just what those men were like; they had seen to it the Fog Troupe had been blamed for Balbadd even if Kouen didn't know all of the details. After all, that bastard brother of Abhmad had been their leader.

Having said that, the citizens here were fairly quick to blame Kouen for the events. But then given Kou was a place greatly feared. More than likely his empire was seen increasingly as some foreboding monolith looming over the central plains, fuelled by dark magic and nefarious intentions. Unfortunately, that assessment seemed at least partially true.

"I think I'd rather keep Koumei here with me. I do my best for my brother. I did hear you finally had the pleasure of my mother – she wrote to me," Sinbad's expression soured at the mention of Gyokuen fairly quickly. "I have to admit, I was surprised she allowed one of our Magi to go back with you. She's getting less paranoid."

"I don't think a year is enough to turn Aladdin against Kou."

"You might make it possible," Kouen noticed a curious flicker in those amber eyes. "What I found interesting is all those ties you've made with such influential people. Important and potentially powerful allies for Sindria. People like Yamaraiha and Alibaba Saluja if you did save his life. I guess most people would think you can't build a kingdom of refugees, exiles and murderers, but maybe you're doing just that."

"Interesting that my new allies have such a low opinion of me, yet still want my friendship. But I guess if a potential enemy speaks badly of you that can only mean you're doing something right."

Kouen shook his head. "I don't really think you're an enemy, and I tried to help my mother see she could trust you."

"It's not like I'm not grateful, I am. But Kou doesn't have the best reputation, and I'm not sure if I want Sindria involved with all the things I keep hearing. Those men you're enslaving blame you as much as the empire."

"I know," Kouen admitted with a sigh. "And it isn't as if I can distance myself from that, I need to enforce it. I can try and improve things though, as I dread to think how long I'll be asked to stay here. But if you did save that Saluja prince, it's probably a smart move on your part."

Sinbad looked surprised by that, and Kouen was almost glad they were interrupted. He looked up as the curtain to the dark tent was thrown back, and for a moment both men were startled by bright sunlight. Bright enough for Koumei to stir slightly. Ri Seiryuu, one of his two trusted generals, entered and brought with him a disgruntled figure. Ri bowed, leaning down to whisper in Kouen's ear.

"Aladdin?" Sinbad snapped sharply as the harassed looking Magi looked between them. Nevertheless the figure stood tall before them, and tried not to look upset. "I told you to wait on the ship and not to enter the city. What are you doing here?"

"Not a lot," came the short reply.

Kouen stood, smoothing his deep red and flowing clothing and gathering his sword before looking Aladdin over. He frowned, knowing what Ri had told him. "You've got your hands full with this one, so you know. Can I have a moment to talk to him? It might help."

Accepting that, Sinbad gave them a brief nod before turning to vacate the tent with Ri. With them gone Kouen turned back. It seemed like a long time since he had seen one of Kou's Magi, and certainly longer since he had read to them any of those Toran legends. He had once seen much of them as he had borrowed their power in conquering his three dungeons. It was hard to believe the slightly sulking young man was a being of such power sometimes. "I did want to see you before you left for Sindria, but I didn't want it to be like this. You can't wander off when things are this dangerous. You're too important to lose, and if there's a danger of that I –"

"Please don't send me back to Kou," he understood that plea, and fell silent. "I really did mean to stay on the ship. I just...well..."

"Didn't, obviously," he said, and Aladdin nodded. "I remember how it was. Judal was always so demanding and noisy, and sometimes when I turned round you were just gone. But you have to understand you are under Sinbad's protection for a year, and a lot of people will try to capture or harm you."

"People are hurting people right here though!" Aladdin exclaimed loudly, before throwing a cautious look towards Koumei's sleeping figure. Admittedly it seemed as if nothing short of aberrant magic seemed capable of disturbing him right now; even so shouting didn't seem that polite to do. "Entei-sama, you're going to make things better out there, aren't you?" Kouen nodded. "They're actually selling people. I want that to stop."

"Unfortunately, slavery here is very much legal. Abhmad didn't think much of his people's lives," Kouen despised how those eyes clouded over at those words. There was something to be said, of course, for telling tales of faraway lands and impossible creatures. It nullified the reality of situations like this. Even if Aladdin was no longer a child he was still naive. For now, Kouen thought it was better to lie about the world a little longer, and assure him he would be able to stop this. He just wasn't sure if he could. "Ri said you got into a fight with that slaver, argued at least. Were you planning to harm him with magic?"

"No, I believe hurting people is wrong," Aladdin admitted. "But you're not going to let this happen, right? You'll stop this."

Kouen nodded. "That's what I'm here for; to help this country as their king made a mistake. That and I'll ensure things stay peaceful."

"Things don't really seem that peaceful right now though, Entei-sama..."

"They will, though," Kouen leaned down; looking one of their Magi in the eye and watching his fists slowly unclench. He didn't feel it was quite time for him to see the world for what it was, nor to stop believing in the stories he had been told. "What's wrong? You've gotten really argumentative now. What happened to the shy boy that couldn't even look his future emperor in the eye? And now you're shouting at me."

"I didn't mean to shout," Aladdin admitted.

"You get to go somewhere pleasant. And by the time you get back I promise all this mess will be cleared up, just don't give Sinbad a tough time, alright? As you don't want to go back there, do you?" Aladdin shook his head adamantly, and Kouen stood straight, giving him a reassuring smile before escorting him out of the tent.

* * *

Alibaba leaned back against the wall overlooking one of many hanging gardens in Sindria's palace grounds, arms folded as he looked over the lavish and colourful scene. It had been early in the morning and still dark when he had woken. Due to a more than disturbing dream he had been unable to sleep again afterwards. It was that same, reoccurring nightmare he had suffered a while, only now it was gaining an unpleasant measure of clarity. It was rooted in his mind, and now his recollections of that fateful day in Balbadd were poisoned by that look in Kassim's eyes. He couldn't forget that expression of hatred mingled with revulsion, and it haunted him. Even now when he thought those feverish dreams would have faded and his wounds were mainly healed.

He hadn't wanted to wake Hakuryuu, whom he had come to share a room with once Alibaba had recovered. Instead he wanted to go outside and clear his head. In doing so he wished the night air was less humid here, as it was slightly overbearing. Hot weather didn't really bother the prince, but then he was used to the cold and dusty chilly desert nights in Balbadd. In Sindria, there was no real escaping from the heat, even if he guessed autumn supposedly had fallen here.

The island was very much that; Sindria felt secluded and safe, and so very far away from everything he knew. It was certainly a far cry from the months of careful planning endured in Balbadd's cold nights when he and Kassim and planned their coup together. Without those nightmares, Alibaba thought he might have even forgotten such events had happened. Time had a knack for passing too quickly here, and it was time he didn't have. He dreaded to think what Balbadd would look like once he actually returned home.

In fact without Hakuryuu to inform him, Alibaba doubted he would have known anything. He had been too embarrassed for help, and so had kept mainly to himself until now. Earlier that evening he had remembered his fellow prince had returned, somewhat wide eyed and fearful, and uttering about Sinbad had returned with one of those Magi he was so fearful of. That had perked his interest, as he knew he should ask him about returning home. He just feared what he would see, with how much his home had suffered and he had no idea how to make it better. Alibaba felt helpless, but again that wasn't something he would freely admit.

Remembering Kassim made him all the more unsettled. His fingers wandered up to those two crimson cuffs now adorning his ear, and he thought back to that day. Somehow Kassim had changed, and perhaps it was those strange weapons which had done it, even if it seemed insane a weapon could do that. Alibaba remembered telling him not to buy those strange, black weapons the arms dealers were offering, as to him it seemed suspicious. He was trying to remember if that was what made his friend turn on him. He just hadn't wanted the revolt to be violent, but Kassim seemed to think he was backing out. Then he had changed, and his best friend had died resenting him. Just the thought of that was enough to feel as though something splintered within him. By the end, Kassim genuinely thought Alibaba was best off dying, and with his two half brothers.

Perhaps he wasn't ready to accept or comprehend that yet. That certainly seemed the case, as he watched his knuckles draw back before swiftly colliding with the hard and cold wall as if to vent his anger.

"...Ow," he muttered quietly, and rubbed over his now red and sore knuckles. He despised remembering things like that, especially when they became so clear and he couldn't escape them. Sleeping, certainly, was fairly problematic now with seeing that look in Kassim's eyes whenever he closed his own.

A strange glimmer caught his attention, and out of the corner of his eye. He whipped round, light golden eyes fixing on many small and white flashes catching like pale embers on the warm air around him. He watched as they danced there, curiously noticing that they seemed to momentarily glow before fading to nothing. A moment later they were bright and burning against the dark again. It was as if they themselves were a dream, which wanted to become real. Noticing there was a trail of them, and still massaging his hand, he leaned off against the wall and resolved to follow them.

He wasn't even sure why he was following them. He had just never seen anything like them, and they seemed to peacefully radiate power into the space around them. He slowly passed through the bright and perfumed gardens, and past a gushing fountain. All the while his eyes never left those strange flashes of light which looked so many like small and radiant birds.

After mere minutes he found their source.

"...Hey," he snapped. It took him moments to acknowledge the fact there were no lamps left on in the kitchens. Instead, those flickers of light were gathered around a person who sat, cross legged, to the entry into the kitchens behind them and had surrounded themselves with fruits of various kinds. She was a slight and rather skinny beggar girl, who looked up as she heard Alibaba approach. She was dressed slightly inappropriately, in loose and white silk dress pants and a waist coat which seemed open at the front. He flushed slightly, and averted his eyes. It didn't help she was an extremely pretty beggar girl either, with large and clear blue eyes and flawless porcelain skin. But he shouldn't be thinking such things. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Eating," he – as apparently "she" was a he – replied. The apparent beggar boy took to munching on an apple and grinned almost in welcome up from where he sat. "That's a bit of a strange thing to ask me though."

"You mean you're stealing," he replied accusingly, even if given everything he went though with the Fog Troupe that seemed ironic. But then they had been honourable thieves. He doubted beggars stealing from palace kitchens were all that unheard of. He just assumed with how Sindria was, it would happen less here than back in Balbadd.

"Food is meant to be borrowed," that young and strange thief, surrounded by those curious bright lights, informed him. He just had to be a thief, Alibaba was sure of it. His eyes caught upon a golden flute handing around his neck. Under that waistcoat, his skin was bare and smooth, and he felt his face flush again even if being embarrassed around another man seemed weird. Regardless, he would imagine golden flutes would be valuable. It certainly seemed like a prize someone like him would steal from a palace.

He didn't seem to be all that upset on Alibaba catching him. He was even gesturing for him to join, which he adamantly refused. "Borrowing means you're going to return something. Just put those back, and go back to wherever you're meant to be, alright?"

"Mm...I think mister shouldn't walk around if he's hurt. Your rukh are sort of..." he squinted, looking about Alibaba as if thinking how to explain something fundamentally difficult to grasp. "Well, they're all lazy and hanging in the air about you, but you probably can't see them come to think of it."

He had no idea what rukh were. As much as the prince didn't want to threaten an unarmed person, he felt a warning would be enough, he drew out his knife, which the thief looked over with searching eyes and took another bite of his apple before standing. He was a little shorter than Alibaba was. "I have no idea what you're talking about, no."

"Alright. Are you lost?"

"...Do I look like I'm lost? I'm meant to be here. And I'm not the one sneaking in to steal fruit" he muttered quietly.

"It's probably not a good idea to threaten people if you're injured anyway," Alibaba stood back as he was being peered at closely. "If you're not lost then, are you here to steal too? If you feel left out we can steal together."

"Absolutely not!" he shouted out, flustered. "And I'm only here as I was following those strange lights. The ones all around you."

"Mm...my rukh? You can see them?" those large eyes widened.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Alibaba stowed the knife away, partially thinking he was dealing with a mildly insane thief. "What's your name?"

"Aladdin," he informed him as he finished demolishing his apple, and with an enthusiasm which was made Alibaba begin to feel hungry. He was offered once, and of course refused it. "What were we talking about? Ah right, rukh. See rukh are –"

"That isn't remotely close to what we were talking about!"

"Oh, it wasn't? I'm sorry, but then do you remember?" he looked at Alibaba politely, who was trying to work out what was best to do with this person. Taking him to someone in charge seemed like a good idea, but then he was a prince. Surely he could deal with someone simply stealing fruit. "Well...whilst you remember, can I keep eating then, stranger-san?"

"...'Stranger-san?'"

"You didn't seem to like being called 'mister'. And I don't know a lot about you yet. Apart from you kept pointing a weapon at me and shout a lot."

"...Don't say it like that," he sighed and rubbed at his forehead. "Just call me Alibaba if you need to call me anything. Look, I haven't been here that long but you can't just sneak in here and take things which aren't yours. You can understand that, can't you?"

"Mm...you know I never thought of it that way," Aladdin admitted after thinking that over for several long minutes. He then gave Alibaba another bright smile, and feeling the heat rise in his face again the prince averted his gaze. "I guess I'm in the wrong then, so I guess I should be punished. I know Sinbad-sama pretty well, so if you want you can take me to him. We just got here, so I think he'll be awake still. How does that sound?"

Alibaba doubted this thief knew the king here, but he wasn't really in the mood for this anyway. "T-that seems fine, let's do that. Follow me."

"You're pretty impatient, Alibaba...erm...-kun?" he asked tentatively, and didn't get a reply. Alibaba had already begun to cross the garden in long strides when he noticed that thief walking in a different direction. It took him a moment to see that Aladdin was waiting, as if he knew the way and was urging him to follow him. Embarrassingly Alibaba had no idea where the palace offices were, but then not a lot about this didn't seem embarrassing. "Are you sure you don't want to just eat instead of getting me punished? I just got here, and I didn't want to get in trouble right away."

"So you're a stowaway?" he asked, and just got a confused look. He passed him, spotting light flood out from one of the buildings. Perhaps he was lucky with this, even if Alibaba didn't feel that lucky. He'd certainly have wanted to meet the king here under less strange conditions and at a more appropriate time of day. Even so he continued walking, and that strange thief called Aladdin was following him with almost alarming enthusiasm.


	6. Chapter 6

_Big big thanks to SmileRen, Akumarayne and Perpetual Dreams for the reviews, plus anyone else reading this far :) I know it's a little of a slow start, but it's going to pick up now! And hopefully this will clear up the whole Alibaba seeing rukh thing too.  
_

_Enjoy~_

* * *

**_Chapter 6_**

Mere hours had passed since the king and his advisor had returned to Sindria's shores, and home. For now Sinbad relaxed, lying back on a darkly toned and lavish sofa and finally felt at home. Through the window opposite to him he watched the naive day grow steadily brighter, to the point it spilled light over the scarlet and hanging gardens outside. He took a slow drink, and from a sake bottle rather than the glass set out for him. Jafar raised a pale eyebrow as he did. "...So you actually met with Kougyoku then? Alone, and at night? And you promised so many times you wouldn't cause me any trouble."

His advisor sat at the king's desk in his pristine and white office, with his feet propped up on it and lounging back just as lazily. Or perhaps that's because travelling by boat really didn't agree with him. Even so, amber eyes glanced over to the man as he fanned himself with an emerald-green keffiyeh usually worn on his head.

"Perhaps you should start thinking that when I say something I mean the opposite. It might stop us confusing each other," Sinbad offered somewhat unhelpfully. His old friend of fifteen years gave him a disapproving look, drank heavily from his desk and tilted his chair back against the cool, gold-lined wall behind him. "But really it's kind of endearing after this long you believe and hang onto my every word."

"Trust you to say something like that," Jafar's freckled face already looked somewhat tinged pink from attempting to match the older man drink for drink. Somewhat dejectedly he lightly tossed his hat where it skidded lethargically over the heavily paper-strewn desk as if admitting defeat. "But things like that don't create the best impression for Sindria."

"Its fine, she asked me out to talk to her. I think. Or maybe it was her attendant – the creepy one you always glare at – ah, I can't remember. This was months ago," and an event which had occurred months ago which he was finally drunk enough to talk about. Jafar ran a somewhat irate hand through his silvery hair. "As she didn't have to marry Abhmad, she wanted to know if she could come here. In fact, she seemed pretty excited to come here."

"More than likely she was trying to get you to propose to her," Sinbad choked at that. "It's not that surprisingly, surely. If Kou allows her out of backing out of marrying him, the girl still has to marry someone. I'd feel more bad at your being second choice to...him. Look, are you positive you weren't drunk enough to lead her on?" Jafar asked, and his dark eyes narrowed as the tall man shook his head after pausing for a little too long. "Really, why is it when it comes to these things you just end up causing me trouble? People are going to start talking."

"People talk about me anyway; I guess it's a good thing. Reim writes to us, and think we're allies with Kou. And Gyokuen as we saw seems convinced we're allied with Reim; amusing seeing as we don't have the best history with them over what they did to Partevia. And you're going to ignore all that, and instead ostracise me over talking to some little girl?"

"You remember that little girl is a princess? And Kougyoku, like so many other, has taken _that_ sort of liking to you now she's a little older?" his advisor just received a very blank expression at that. Sinbad stretched back on his sofa and yawned widely. "You didn't notice? Do people need to literally get up and throw themselves at you?"

"You mean like Judal?" Sinbad asked. Mentioning his name seemed to cause a cold, inexplicably sharp twinge to run through him which he couldn't explain. "Subtlety never was that boy's strong point. But it's not my fault if people like me."

"Yes. And Gyokuen didn't even make Kougyoku go to Balbadd, did she? She let the girl chase after you instead. Kou really are trying with you now, you should be worried."

And indeed he was. Even if Sinbad had toyed with Kou neither too little nor too much, being pushed into allying with them wasn't so inevitable. His seven nation alliance, after all, was steadily growing more important concerning trade, especially. Reim were interested enough in Sindria for their Magi to write to him, and he knew sooner or later he would need to deal with her. And Kou, that shadowy and ever-growing monolith he stayed friendly with as he wanted their two Magi, wanted more than just a tense friendship. The empire was definitely growing more ambitious and was now devouring any country in its path. Balbadd and meeting Kouen there was an indication of that, and they were getting a little too strong a little too quickly for his liking. Right now Sinbad just didn't want to side with one or the other, and the idea of a political marriage terrified him.

"But she didn't ask me about that though. She just said being in Kou unsettled her and as Judal was meant to come here she wanted to come too. They're close, but obviously as he stayed she didn't ask me again," Sinbad recalled, finishing his current bottle and reaching for the next. Jafar was visibly relaxing upon hearing that. "Really, just Kouen telling me he didn't want to send Koumei back there even if he's ill again says a lot about the state of things. All of that insanity just makes me glad we can run back here and not deal with it."

"It's to be expected I guess. There are a lot of weird people over there if you ask me," their conversation was abruptly interrupted by a quiet tapping at the door. Jafar tilted forward in his seat before slumping up, glass in hand, to go and answer it. "But don't relax on this. You're not quite off the hook with me about Kougyoku yet."

"Strange; I don't remember you having a hook in me to start with. And I'd remember that sort of thing," Sinbad grinned at him. The door opened, and on seeing who entered he quickly stashed the bottles, empty and full, under the sofa and out of sight. He then straightened himself up and attempted to look sober and presentable. "Now...that's an odd pair to see," he said as he looked over a prince from Balbadd and one of the twin Magi from Kou.

"Very odd," Jafar agreed with a slight hiccup as he closed the tall and heavy door behind him. it was then he panicked and rushed over to clear the mess he'd left on his king's desk.

Sinbad himself rubbed over his handsome face, and willed for that numbing, intoxicated feeling to fade from him. He watched Alibaba eye over him, as if knowing full well what he had intruded on, and seemed somewhat guilty and nervous at doing so. He definitely resembled his father, at any rate, with his lightly toned golden eyes and dark blonde hair.

"It's nice to finally meet you. I'm sorry about disturbing you like this..." Alibaba started. The prince bowed to him, respectfully yet clearly not that accustomed to dealing with royalty. Not that Sinbad was much more comfortable in that regard.

"It's a pleasure to meet you at last," he smiled in reply. He knew, with sketchy details, of what exactly had happened with Alibaba and his Fog Troupe even if he had delegated a lot of that to Yamaraiha and Sharrkan. The little he knew concerned with the people Alibaba must have known being executed, and the prince himself had been severely wounded. Such thoughts proved enough to sober him up. "It's good to see you up and about, even at this time in the morning. I trust you're feeling alright?"

"Ah, erm...yes. thank you," Alibaba straightened out of his bow. He gave Aladdin a long glance, who seemed to not notice and instead had taken to sitting close at Sinbad's side and seemed perplexed by that. "I know you literally just got back. But I caught this thief here stealing...which seems to be happening again." He noticed as the blue haired figure helped himself to some nearby grapes. "So I just wanted to tell you so you could punish her – him" he corrected himself quickly.

Aladdin seemed to preoccupied by the fruit and scanning over the elaborately furnished, fragranced office to take note of their conversation however. The king ruffled at the back of his long azure hair affectionately. "I see. In that case thank you."

This clearly wasn't going as the young man thought it would. "...You're welcome."

"And you, little thief," Sinbad smiled and watched Aladdin look up at him. "Did you manage to eat as much as you needed before our guest here decided to get you punished?"

The young Magi nodded. Sinbad stood gracefully, brushing off his long robes and his amber eyes fixed in amusement at the expression adoring the prince's face. "Yes, he was kind enough to do that," Aladdin told him, even with a mouthful of fruit. "But I thought you said I could do whatever I wanted here. Did I do something wrong?"

"It's a misunderstanding. Whilst you're here, this is your home," he reminded the Magi. "Do you remember Balbadd, the country we docked at before coming here?" Aladdin nodded. "Alibaba's the prince from there, you know."

"Really? he didn't tell me that. but he did threaten me with a pocket knife and call me a thief and a stowaway. None of the princes in Kou ever did that, it was amusing."

Alibaba's eyes widened, looking down at the ornate knife at his side. It certainly seemed more than a simple pocket knife. "You can't go round telling him, a _king, _something like that?"

"But I just did though..."

"You're worse than Judal sometimes," Sinbad sighed. "Alibaba, Aladdin here is one of the Magi from Kou. He's going to be studying here for a while, and I've known him and his brother for most of their lives. He might seem harmless, but he's sharper than he looks."

"So is Sinbad-sama. Sometimes," Aladdin said, looking eyes with Alibaba curiously. The prince averted his gaze as if embarrassed by this whole situation. But Alibaba-kun is special; he can see rukh. Just like you can."

Sinbad glanced over at Alibaba sharply at that, thinking for a long moment. He then ruffled softly at the Magi's long fringe as if to assure him there was nothing to worry about. "That's interesting; as you know not many people can see them."

"Mm...they say back in Kou only is and magicians can see them. So then –"

"I'm sorry..." Sinbad interrupted him and yawned, covering his face as he did so. He hoped that was as convincing as it sounded. "But it's a bit late for this, and for you to be up this late. Gyokuen wouldn't be happy with me. With everything that happened, we got here a little later than I expected to. But there's going to be a celebration to welcome you here, Aladdin, and I want to talk to you then. I'm sure you'll love it," the Magi gave him one of those searching looks, as if staring straight though him, before nodding. Sinbad's eyes fixed on Jafar, who watched the three calmly from across the room. "Could you please show Aladdin to a room near mine? I'd like to keep him close by."

Jafar nodded, bowing deeply before silently shepherding the Magi from the room. Once the door was closed, Sinbad folded his arms and turned back to the prince. "So..."

"I didn't mean to threaten him. I didn't know who he was..." Alibaba stuttered.

"No, I guess not. Aladdin just isn't what you'd expect, and not what someone would picture in a Magi. Most people think they'll be a lot older, more imposing perhaps..." however, judging from Alibaba's expression he was still unclear what a Magi really was. "You'll see just how strong he is though. I was going to ask him to demonstrate his magic at the celebration tonight."

"...Right," Alibaba said, a little nervously.

"He said you can see rukh?" Sinbad asked, even if part of him really didn't want to ask about that. The young man nodded. "I see. And that happened when you saw Aladdin just now?"

"Yes. How did you know that?"

"Just a guess."

Alibaba frowned at that. "They were these...white, shining things that flitted all about him, brightening up the sky as they went. They were weird, but really warm. They made me feel calm."

"So they were white?" he nodded, and relief flooded through the king.

"Why? They can be other colours?"

"No," he replied rather flatly. Sinbad didn't really want to remember about that dark day, or the rukh he had seen. Those cold and dark flashes which had cast the day to shadow, of the friend he had lost and the events which had transpired. It had been the events of that day which had caused Sinbad to owe this man's father so much. Enough, after all, to save Alibaba's life and to bring him to Sindria. "Can you remember what happened in Balbadd at all?"

"I can't, no."

"Rukh tend to show themselves to people who have been through a bad experience. I'd not worry," Sinbad told him. "Magi are loved by the rukh, and can always see them. I've met all four Magi, and all of them say they're always surrounded with rukh."

"And Aladdin seems..." Alibaba started before stopping himself and flushing slightly. Sinbad gave him a searching look and the prince cleared his throat. "But...about Balbadd. I'm beyond thankful, really. But I don't completely know what happened there. No one will tell me."

"Just focus on your health for now. Kouen Ren is a good friend of mine, and is taking care of your country at the moment. He'll let me know when it's safe for you to go back," he led Alibaba gently back towards the door. "But we'll speak later, I promise."

Alibaba went to reply, but Sinbad had already pressed him out of the room and closed the door behind him. The king crossed to his desk, noticing Jafar had forgotten his keffiyeh there. He picked the soft headpiece up, passing it gently from hand to hand, and fell into deep thought. Remembering those black rukh, and the apparent curse which had mysteriously taken him all those years ago, wasn't all that pleasant. But then how nice could it be, to remember the loss of a close friend? Someone who had been irreplaceable to that day. He slumped back, closing his eyes, and tried to block the memories flooding back to him.

* * *

The day passed slowly to noon, and Alibaba hadn't left his bed. Instead, he inhaled deeply on the joint he was smoking; stretching his legs up to rest his warm feet against a cold and white wall ahead him. Lying down like this helped him to stem the thoughts bleeding into his mind after all. He watched rolls of dark mist well up ahead of him, before veiling and painting the perfect ceiling in a cloud of tarnished grey. Within moments those thoughts of the flames licking at Balbadd, of how his home and people had been turned to dust, faded away. He remembered no more fleeting memories of strange men, of the black fog which seemed so alive, or of the weapons and their eerie powers. Eventually, and above all, Kassim's accusing eyes would also be forgotten. For now at least.

He remembered the heavy book resting on his stomach and casted it aside. He had borrowed it from Hakuryuu, and it happened to be one of the many works the Sindrian king had written himself. It had been interesting enough, even if Sinbad seemed to live up to his reputation of exaggerating things, no doubt to make his work more attractive. For now he wasn't focused enough to read, and instead watched the pages flutter indignantly in the lazy tropical breeze. His thoughts numbed over, but he did remember the book mentioning how Sindria was dependent upon two things; trade and its people conquering dungeons. It was that which had given Alibaba an idea...

That idea, however, fled from him as the door opened. He watched Hakuryuu draw in, fragrant steam clinging to his bare skin from the bath he had just taken and wrapped in a long white towel. He had been in the process of rubbing a second towel through his soaked, ink-hued hair before stopping. A palm armed wafted away the translucent mist, and looked at it curiously as if he had never seen anything like it. More than likely, as Alibaba remembered him mentioning he had never shared a room with anyone before, he hadn't. "...Just what are you doing?"

"Smoking. It's good for the pain," Alibaba told him. It was a habit he had picked up years ago, seeing Kassim do it and that making it appealing enough to try. "...Really good for the pain."

The two had, inadvertently, ended up sharing a room together after Hakuryuu had worried too much over his wounds to leave him alone. So the two had moved from their respective rooms into this one, which hadn't bothered Alibaba too much. After all, he had never really slept alone during his years in the slums, and the years in the palace to follow had been far too lonely. His fellow prince, however, seemed a little rigid and nervous still over things. Smoking included.

Hakuryuu coughed and rubbed at his eyes, and then headed out to the small marble balcony connected to their room. He was, after all, too polite to really complain. And Alibaba right now was too lethargic to remember to be courteous. "...I see. Just who gave that...that thing to you anyway? I've been tending to you more than anyone. And I'd never recommend...that."

"Well, you should. And when I met Sharrkan he gave it to me."

"O-oh!" in a flick of damp hair, a pale torso came into view from the corner of Alibaba's eye. "So you met him. That's good that...awful thing aside."

"He said if I'm careful I shouldn't have a problem training with you guys," Alibaba said. He reached an arm out, offering that joint to the other prince. Hakuryuu's miss-toned cerulean eyes eyed over it as though it had offended him greatly. "Try it. You can't hate it if you've never tried it?" he informed him, and watched Hakuryuu approach him curiously. "I've been smoking them in secret for years now."

"But I'm clearly in no pain," he said flatly.

"Just lie to yourself then. Tell yourself you have a headache or something," Alibaba watched him take it from him. From the moment Hakuryuu drew that join to his mouth, it seemed that he dissolved into a series of shallow coughs. His eyes watered and he hastily handed it back and retreated to his balcony.

"I mean no offense, but maybe you could keep that habit a secret. I want no part in such a foul thing."

"What part of that wasn't offensive...?" Alibaba murmured, extinguishing the joint as if to appease him. He gazed up at the ceiling, looking for non-existent cracks as Hakuryuu shed his towel to dress. "That Magi from Kou arrived by ship really early this morning," he could almost hear Hakuryuu whip round to face him. "I met him. He didn't seem scary or intimidating at all."

"You...met him?" Hakuryuu asked nervously, and Alibaba faced him. "Which of them was it?"

"He called himself Aladdin," he informed him, before flushing and looking back at his ceiling. Equally embarrassed, Hakuryuu cleared his throat after being seen in such a state before hastily pulling his clothes on. "He was...just glowing and surrounded by these white lights. I've never seen anything like it."

"You mean rukh?"

"Yes – wait, you can see them? Wow, it seems everyone has seen them. Sinbad said that was rare," Alibaba was beginning to think the king hadn't told him everything.

Now dressed, Hakuryuu sat down carefully on his own bed, hands settled in his lap. His fingers gracefully indicated the scar marring the left side of his face, and the eye almost shining with its blackened light. "I saw them a long time ago, but it's an event I remember little of. It happened when I lost my father and two brothers, as a child as we fled from Kou. I almost died, and as I lay injured I thought I saw a flicker of black rukh, a little like dark fire, against the fires of that night."

"...Black rukh?" he asked as he looked over that brightened eye. He did so for a long time, and clearly long enough for Hakuryuu to nervously cover his face with his hand. "Sorry...but you know, the rukh I saw were white. Does their colour matter? Sinbad seemed surprised I saw white ones. He said they show themselves to people if they were troubled.

"Perhaps that is the case."

"Anyway, I guess we should get ready for that celebration. They're throwing it to welcome Aladdin here and apparently that means he's going to show off his magic," Hakuryuu's wide eyes suggested he couldn't think of a less welcoming thought. "I guess Magi are meant to be pretty amazing to watch."

"Yes, they are – for better or worse. If he's using magic I'd...rather not go."

"You have to, though," Alibaba watched him shake his head. "He's going to be studying for a full year, you know. You can't avoid him all that time."

"I can try. I definitely don't want to watch something dangerous as that," Hakuryuu told him firmly. He had drawn up gracefully to open a cupboard at the end of his bed. From it he drew out a neatly folded pile of a foreign and soft looking material toned in midnight blue and deep ebony. Smoothing his fingers over it, he passed it to Alibaba. "You told me you didn't have much in the way of possessions when you were brought here. This is called a kamishimo, and they're very popular to wear at festivals back at Kou. I figured you could borrow it if you want."

Alibaba looked over at the clothing curiously. They ran over his fingers like liquid and cool silk, and he placed them lightly to the side of him. "Are you sure?"

Hakuryuu nodded. "Yes, just be careful with them."

"Of course...thank you. But don't lock yourself up training tonight, alright?" he told him. Alibaba drew up and headed to the door to take a bath himself before looking back to Hakuryuu. "But...you should meet with Aladdin. He's very much...not scary," he added, and to his surprise found himself once again blush. Quickly he closed the door behind him, thinking it best his fellow prince didn't see that.


	7. Chapter 7

_This is being updated much, much later than I planned to. My apologies for that. All I can blame is summer and a slight case of writer's block. Nothing to major, but stuff happens right?  
_

_A huge, huge thanks to SmileRen, Perpetual Dreams, Akumarayne and mamita for the kind comments, and anyone else reading etc so far. Erm...well first of all I'm sorry as I guess that the last chapter didn't explain much why Alibaba sees white rukh :p. Mainly I was starting explaining the rukh thing and my head gets easily side tracked. There will be quite a bit on that though, as its something which interests me. And yeah, there's sort of a lot of one sided stuff here. The only real one working out is AlibabaxAladdin, but there's a lot of one sided stuff? Why? I don't know, it just seems to have worked it into my drafts and crushes are fun things._

_Anyway, my apologies again for the somewhat long break and any confusing stuff. Enjoy~_

* * *

**_Chapter 7_**

As a Magi, Aladdin was of course extremely well read. It hadn't been a past time he enjoyed quite as much as Judal, but he valued it nonetheless. He was well aware that some experiences were better had first hand, rather than dwindling away long and tedious hours within the numerous palace libraries in Kou. Hovering above the shores of Sindria as midnight approached, Aladdin knew this was one of those times. After all, that night was the celebration to welcome him to the islands. To allow him the chance to show off his power and with it the Kou Empire's might. It was the night of the Mahrajan Festival.

The celebration was something Sinbad had often embellished to he and his brother, and typically had been a rather long and impressive tale. Again, Judal tended to enjoy such things more. From what Aladdin remembered, the festival had two purposes. Firstly, it was meant to be entertaining. Secondly, and just as crucially, it was there to protect the king's island kingdom from the influx of maritime monstrosities looking to break upon those serene shores. Looking out into the black and twisting tides, he could see the monster approaching in the far distance. He was there to show Sinbad's people what he could do.

He didn't mind, even if he knew the foreign king was curious just how strong his empire was. He wasn't as keen on showing off his magic as Judal was, however. Below him, the copious and many flickering candles wavered in the strengthening breeze. Their eyes were fixed on him and their anticipation filled the air. What a shame his brother wasn't here to revel in this attention; the festival was something he would have enjoyed immensely. How strange, too, to do such a thing without him.

Somewhat nervously, his slim fingers slipped over the cool metal of his flute as it hung around down onto his chest. He looked back down, to those adoring crowds of perhaps every soul that comprised of the friendly and welcoming country. Perhaps this to him was more frightening than the prospect of pitting his magic against a fantastical monster. It just seemed so strange, to fight like this alone. Especially as originally this festival had been meant to welcome his brother instead.

Alibaba's eyes were locked on him, and with an expression Aladdin couldn't quite read. Far from his usual pale and loose clothing, he was wearing a rather rigid and elaborate looking kamishimo. Draped within the silken folds of black and sapphire, he almost didn't recognise him. He certainly looked more like a prince, side by side with Sinbad and dressed like royalty.

How apprehensive he looked, almost nervous. The Magi remembered him well; the prince of a shattered country he had passed through those months ago. The same country now Kouen troubled himself with repairing. Alibaba Saluja was that strange young man who had called him a thief, didn't know what he was, and had shouted at him. He certainly didn't seem to like Aladdin all that much. But then, he was looking over the Magi as if almost fearful for him. As if he couldn't comprehend how such a skinny, deceptively fragile looking person could fight against such a creature alone. But then, Aladdin tended to be underestimated in such a way. Compared to his brother, he always felt as though he lacked presence.

Directly, Yamaraiha cleared her throat loudly as if to remind Aladdin of the task at hand. Flying above her, he nodded and took a deep breath. As from tomorrow, she would be his new teacher. And the magician was more than enthusiastic what her new student would be capable of. She, like Sinbad, had been keen to see him fight tonight. Both of them were confident he'd have no problems.

He was a Magi, so honestly he didn't know why he was nervous. Aladdin looked out over the glistening, still waters ahead of him. From his vantage point, he could see the seas gradually part as that monster of the sea waded its way to their shores. The ocean had begun to quake, as if being struck by an invisible hand, and he shuddered in spite of the warm and summery air.

Azure eyes flicked, focusing upon the sinewy beast of darkly flittering scales, black smoke and barred yellow fangs as it drew close. Battling against the tides, the abominable creature seemed very much set its sights on destroying that beautiful and peaceful island. Winds gushed past the Magi as the beast's roar echoed like thunder through the skies. With grace surprising to his gigantic size it snaked out of the water to draw level with him, long neck wafting from side to side as it did. Bloodshot and murderous eyes considered the young man, its sharply ridged head inclining as if preparing to strike.

He knew Magi were meant to be peaceful. Aladdin believed those like him were special, both for the power they held and the peace they could wield with it. He detested violence, and fighting, and even showing off. Unlike Judal, he would do something like this purely if he was asked nicely. It just seemed amusing, clutching that small, insignificant yet faithful instrument to him and thinking that would be enough.

However, Ugo was already wordlessly prompting his master to summon him. Without accepting or denying the djinn, he had burst forward to protect his Magi. The fog-like gathering of white rukh parted as that blue and muscular – and still headless – body of the giant burst forth. Aladdin hung back, preparing to ready himself as the imposing figure locked with the monster to the awe of the audience below them.

With another roar, the merciless beast of the sea emerged fully from its home in the oceanic depths. water cascaded down violently from its twisted body in huge shivers of inky blue water. The massive droplets struck against the pristine and pale shores to dye them in a mottling of soaked shadows. The cries of any too close reached him, as their soaked selves backed off in surprise.

Aladdin could have expected as much from Sinbad's books and stories. Most of his adventures were of the seven seas, as well as far beyond them. He had always told him of merciless beasts, and their terrible tempers and insatiable hunger and their unhealthy tendency to crush and break everything in sight. That was all very well. The Magi had neglected to remember that they allegedly had a tendency to breathe fire.

As such, flames of charred shadow and smoke charred at the sands below him and Aladdin felt his eyes widen. Following Sinbad boasting to the twins of fighting off such creatures, he should have remembered that detail. But then, the king did like to exaggerate. As that sickly black fire advanced, he became fearful of the people below. Their cries made tension film and bead over his prickling skin in sweat, and his heart grew almost painful in his chest. Again, Aladdin assured himself he would be alright.

The moment he went to join Ugo who was wrestling with that fire-breathing monster however, a curious sensation washed over him. A feeling as though he had never experienced, as though he was being submerged into black and freezing water. It clung like ribbons of miasma to the air wound him, just out of Aladdin's reach. Something about it was unsettling, and he didn't like it. He felt panicked, and the hair on the back of his neck rose and prickled against his skin. He whipped round, and found himself looking at Alibaba once again. Only now, that prince was fixed upon the darkly licking flames with a vacant stare. He didn't look himself, and it felt as though his once brilliant rukh were dyed black.

Black rukh – what was this?

The area surrounding Alibaba had certainly darkened. More than that, looking down even from such a distance the prince's whole body seemed gripped in terror. His hands were balled into fists, and staring at the destruction the sea creature brought seemed to rob his eyes of their clarity. Aladdin knew that Balbadd had fallen tragically to strange circumstances, and to something Sinbad described as shadows burning through the streets. Was such a sight enough to force Alibaba to remember that traumatic experience? All the Magi knew were the sketched details that the prince wished to not think of the pain and suffering that event had brought him. Certainly that seemed enough for this...poisonous helplessness to seep out from him.

He cursed himself; did it matter? He had to help him. He –

"Aladdin!"

...He snapped back to himself as he heard Yamaraiha call up sharply to him.

Still attempting to push back that beast, Ugo faltered. And the creature set its sights on Aladdin as it whipped out its lethal tail. The Magi gritted his teeth as he felt the bladed ridges strike against his forearm. Already his djinn had pushed it away, and intercepted any worse damage. As it was, and rubbing over his arm, he knew it was a mere scratch.

Silence still fell over the crowd, however. Ugo was fast, and the two were a good enough team on most occasions. He knew that was lucky, however, and cursed himself. He needed to focus. With a light note played onto his flute, he watched the rukh around him brighten and glow. With another roar the creature swiped at him, Aladdin floated back at the way and Ugo pushed it back.

The flecks of white had gathered, and at his unspoken command were tinged with scarlet. They glistened like fiery embers wafting lazily over the pleasant night breath as they welled up and collected together. Then they scattered, piercing the velvet night all around him. Finally Aladdin found himself fighting fire literally with fire.

Power spilled out in the form of scarlet and golden flames, as if to quench and cleanse the chaos the monster had brought. Ugo finally released it as the serpent-like creature let out a sharp cry. Aladdin's magic billowed against its muscular, scaled body and it rushed back to its refuge in the sea. Water once again splashed over Aladdin, and he took a deep breath. With a low, gentle tune on that instrument Ugo obediently vanished. With a second, and shorter, once, the wind grew gentler as magical and bright fire faded and died from the scene. The Magi felt the power reverse and pour back into him. The night faded, and grew darker, and he sank back down to the beach below him.

The audience grew loud again, somewhat impressed and in awe of him. Aladdin felt enervated, shivering and attempting to compose himself. As his bare feet touched upon the cool and soaked sand, he watched Yamaraiha rush forward in a stream of cerulean hair. She lightly gripped him at the elbows, searching over that scratch with concern. "Are you alright?"

He nodded. Aladdin watched Sinbad approach, who still had Baal's blade in hand. Even if the king thought the twin Magi were amazing and capable of anything, he still remained paranoid over their safely.

"You should go with Yamaraiha; you're shaking..." Sinbad told him softly, and it wasn't simply a suggestion. The man's eyes lingered on Aladdin as Yamaraiha led him away. Aladdin knew, however, he wasn't trembling from the terror of encountering a fantastic and fire breathing monsters. Instead his mind lingered on those shadows as they had darkened that pleasant night. And just how disturbed it made him to think Alibaba Saluja needed his help.

Even as Yamaraiha led Aladdin back to the palace, that prince was watching him. He was even starting towards him. He could still see feel that darkness, even if it was muted. To him, it didn't feel like the man. Instead it felt almost like someone else's rukh and magoi, partially taken residence within Alibaba's body. He doubted that was a good thing, especially with how fear and loss had seeped from him in those moments.

Out of the corner of his eye, Aladdin still felt it. That strangely black rukh darkly shimmering, as if waiting to take over Alibaba again. Still, was he really seeing that? Judal had spoken more and more of such a thing. And he had told his beloved brother not to lie and talk about such a strange and illogical thing. Right now, it didn't seem all that illogical and seemed very much real.

So – what if Judal had been right? What if such a thing existed? Just what did it mean, to have rukh inhabiting the body of another? Without reading or knowing more, Aladdin knew one thing. To him it seemed very frightening and dangerous.

Far from being able to sleep, Aladdin took to sitting outside and alone. Curled up within the hanging and night-time gardens of the palace outside of its Purple Leo tower, he turned over that long, plaited lock of hair his brother had given him thoughtfully in his hands. The events of earlier on the beach weighed upon him. The sight of that darkness spiralling around and within Alibaba, and trying to work out what such a thing meant. He had some idea, and it wasn't a pleasant once.

His thoughts had only darkened as he looked down at the gift within his hands. Judal's rukh clung to it still, after all the silken hair was a part of him. He was used to his brother's rukh as bright and as numerous as his own. However, those lingering on the lock of hair seemed eerily different and barely recognisable. Strangely it felt almost like that incident of earlier that might, where white rukh were eclipsed by the black.

So far away, Aladdin worried if something had happened to his brother. He had already written a letter to him, and right now he felt so far away. Especially as his brother had been the person telling him about this, and he hadn't believed him. All of this couldn't be a coincidence, or not harmful. Aladdin just didn't know what it meant, and that's what really scared him.

* * *

The fresh air wasn't doing much to clear his mind, it seemed. Aladdin sighed, sprawling out into the long grass and against the cold stone of the cheerily splashing fountain behind him. Looking out over the flowery and scented gardens, he noticed that muted and somewhat sullen sensation of darkened energy etch out to meet him. Alibaba, it seemed, had been looking for him. Perhaps he had even followed his rukh as he had that first time they had encountered each other.

Curiously, he watched the prince approach him. He was still dressed in that rigid kamishimo, rustling over the lawn as he approached. Aladdin in general wasn't used to being followed. In fact he was quiet and insignificantly enough to not draw all that much attention in the first place.

Alibaba cleared his throat and looked down at him. Aladdin was lying flat on his back and stared back up at him with a polite smile. He continued to twist that darkened braid neatly around his fingers as he spoke. "It's...a nice night..." he tried, and a little awkwardly.

"Mm, it is," Aladdin agreed after several long moments of silence. He watched Alibaba crouch down, albeit awkwardly in the clothing he wore as if not accustomed to wearing such a thing. His fingertips lightly passed over the scratch on the Magi's arm. It was there, a thin and crimson line which wasn't really close to being something he was worried about at that moment.

As if satisfied, as Yamaraiha had been, that it wasn't serious Alibaba sat down with great difficultly, drawing his arms round his knees. "You were pretty amazing out there, you know. I didn't think you could do anything like that. Then...I didn't think _anyone_ could do that. That djinn, all that fire..."

Aladdin nodded as his company trailed off. With one last glance he tucked the lock of hair back into his pocket and sat up. he tried not to think that such a thing as black rukh existed. After all, he didn't know anything about this. Perhaps he was wrong. Dwelling on it so much wasn't doing him any good. "I don't really like showing off like that though. The people here just wanted to see what I could do."

"You're kidding, aren't you? You scared that huge monster off so easily. What's your problem? If I was that strong I'd never stop showing off," Alibaba gave a slight, nervous laugh as if he wasn't sure what to say to him now.

"Well, growing up my onii-san and I used to fight a lot, so it didn't seem all that amazing anymore."

"I had someone growing up I thought of as a brother, too. And we fought a lot," Alibaba smiled sadly. He was passing a couple of crimson ear cuffs from palm to palm, tracing his thumb over them almost tenderly.

Aladdin watched him closely for a moment before speaking. "You saw something out there, didn't you? The moment you saw that creature breath fear, I felt some strange energy come out of you. The air literally went black around you and you freaked out a bit." At his words, Alibaba's hand closed around the cuffs. As if slightly unnerved, and like before, the air darkened and he regretted mentioning it. "Erm, I..."

"Seeing that black fire made me remember some pretty horrible things, yes," Alibaba told him bluntly.

Unsure if he wished to continue talking of such a thing, Aladdin traced his fingers though the grass to distract himself. "You mean what happened to your home."

"No. Not my home," the prince corrected him almost angrily. "I'm not like you. It's not like when I leave here I'll go back and everything will be as it was. Everyone back there is..." he took a shuddering breath. Alibaba stood, taking a few steps away from where Aladdin sat curled up against on the grass. The other man rubbed at his face, and calmed himself. "...When I saw those flames, I remembered something. When I see you and those white lights, I keep thinking about what happened. How when I was back there we were winning and then...all that happened. Everything went dark, and I don't understand how it happened. But I know my friends are gone, and its my fault. I couldn't save them. I could never do anything on my own. Not without..." he spun back round, teeth gritted and fists clenched. "So tell me; how can I go back there after all that."

Aladdin looked back up at him. He sat up straight and linked his fingers together. "Well, Kouen said he's going to help the people there. You can't forget what happened, though. It's something you have to face and –"

"Why? Why Do I have to face it?" he demanded. Alibaba, after all, seemed fairly adamant in not remembering what happened. He hadn't wanted to remember the pain and loneliness of those days. And at that point, the Magi was naive enough to not really fathom what such a thing meant, and wise enough to know how much it affected him. "After I woke up I thought I could pretend it was all a bad dream. Then you turned up, and all the bad things happened. White rukh, my dreams, everything. Even when I smoke I can't forget them...Hakuryuu was right about you!"

Alibaba drew up, pointing an incriminating finger sharply against the Magi's chest. In those elegant clothes, yet shouting like that, he couldn't help but feel a little amused. Even so, he drew back. "The bad things had already happened. You just wanted it to be a dream you could wake up from. But what will that help? Harmful things don't just go away if you want them to, you know." He paused, and got to his feet. "Wait – Hakuryuu was right about me? About what?"

"He warned me. He told me you and your brother is bad people."

"...We are?" Aladdin asked curiously. That was certainly news to him."

"Yes..." Alibaba looked over him. "No. Perhaps – how would I know? I've only just met you! But when I met you, you were stealing things!"

"I did, but Sinbad-sama said its fine if I steal things, and if its food."

The prince shook his head. "No. Hakuryuu was talking about the bad things you do back in Kou. And those things were what made him leave."

"I don't remember doing anything that bad, to be honest," he told him, scratching at the back of a head of dishevelled blue hair. "Maybe he remembered wrong?"

"No," Alibaba replied shortly. "Whatever you two did, it's enough for him to be too scared to go back. And he lost his father and two older brothers. A prince scared of going back to his own country – do you know how insane that sounds?"

"Mm. It sounds like you."

Alibaba paused, snapping back to look over him. He took to pacing the grass in long, slow strides in front of him. Standing, Aladdin thought about leaving. He was pretty sure, of all things, he wasn't meant to antagonise royalty. His bare feet tripped lightly over the thin, stony path leading back to the white and golden spire of the Purple Leo tower. After all, Sinbad had wanted to keep the Magi close to him in case something happened. As he wanted to get an early start tomorrow, it seemed the best idea.

"Maybe with you and your brother gone from Kou, Hakuryuu feels Kou will go back to how things were," Alibaba told him quietly to his retreating back. He reached the wall, palms resting against it before looking back. He had never, ever heard of someone wishing for he and his brother to leave their home. It gave him a sinking feeling, that they wouldn't be welcome there. He remained silent, and watched that prince walk silently up to him. "I don't know, though. I think if you went back home right now, things wouldn't be any better. I...actually like you being here."

Aladdin turned, giving him a slightly thankfully look but folding his arms over his chest. "...Thank you. So I know, when Hakuryuu-san talks about bad things, what does he mean?"

"Erm..." Alibaba ran a hand through his short, messy hair in thought. "Stuff like black rukh."

His eyes widened. So they did exist..."Alright. Well, I've never even seen something like that. Not until I saw you, anyway. Onii-san used to say they existed, and I thought he was lying."

"I don't think that's true. Both the king here and Hakuryuu claim they've seen them."

He paused. "...Sinbad-sama never told me that."

"Well, you said he knew you growing up. Maybe he didn't want to scare you, I don't know. You could ask him why."

"Oh, I will," the Magi informed him. "So you know, onii-san and I only did as we're told. And we were told to help Kou; so how does that make us bad people?"

"I guess it doesn't. All the same, bad things have happened since that night I saw you."

Aladdin nodded. "I'm sorry, I-"

"L-like I want an apology for something like that!" he stuttered angrily. Slightly unnerved, Aladdin leaned up from the wall with a slight stretch. The air was darkening again, and again he reminded himself he shouldn't upset anyone. He looked away from that furious gaze and looked to pass him. "We're talking, so where are you going?"

"You're shouting at me," he replied. "And I start studying tomorrow, so –"

"Just...stay. Please," he had already stopped walking. All the same, he found Alibaba's fingers reach out to lightly circle his wrist. He didn't pull away. "I feel like you know something, when you look at me it's like you're scared of something. What is it?"

"Erm..." he paused nervously. "Well...the only black rukh I've seen are yours. But they're not yours. I think you have someone's rukh inside you."

"...Inside me? What does that mean?" Alibaba asked. He leaned down, trying to catch sight of the Magi's expression who refused to look at him. "You...from your tone you don't seem to think that's normal."

"Not really, but I don't really know what's meant to be normal with this. I guess you might be cursed. Or poisoned. Or something else that..." out of the corner of his eye, he watched those light gold eyes grow panicked. "Um, it's not like I wanted to worry you over it."

"...Don't you think saying that's a bit late if you're saying I'm cursed!"

Aladdin felt himself being lightly pushed back against the cool wall behind him. Two strong palms reached up, settling against his shoulders to hold him there. He reached out, as if going to push him away. Far from looking angry though, Alibaba looked more confused and hurt. He looked almost begging for the answers he didn't have. As Aladdin's fingers settled at the prince's clothed forearms, the other man leaned in. His forehead rested into the crook of the Magi's neck, burying his face in his hair. "Please, Aladdin – just tell me. You know something. Why is this happening, why do I keep seeing strange things? Why did I survive and wake up here, and my friends didn't..." he breathed and pressed heavily against him. "Anything you can tell me – it's better than this. You're a Magi, aren't you? They're meant to help people..."

Aladdin closed his eyes. He leaned forward to meet him, and nodded. "We do. But you're thinking those things because a lot happened there. Going to Balbadd bothered me a lot. I thought about it, and I guess my rukh talked to the rukh there. Maybe to the rukh that belonged to the people you lost and they said I was coming here. It's all I can think of, that they knew I was coming to see you. So my rukh show themselves to you, so I know to help you. But you're blocking out so much because it hurts. All those people you lost are looking for you and still care about you."

He felt Alibaba shift and meet his eyes, shaking his head. "That doesn't make any sense, though. That was my home and I was meant to save them and stop all that suffering. In the end I couldn't do anything. If...they told your rukh to help me – I don't get it. Why would they forgive me? Why would they help me after all that?"

"...You're such an idiot," Aladdin sighed. "Isn't it obvious?" he was just given an oblivious look...clearly not. "Ah, you're infuriating! Is it so hard to just admit you're scared and need help? What's so bad about that?"

"Because...it's embarrassing," he replied, in the tone that Aladdin should have known that. Clearly he didn't.

"Well, all those people wouldn't have followed you if they didn't trust you. You didn't want to abandon them, did you? You can't just shoulder all that on your own as you think you can. You stood up to what you believed in, didn't you? I guess you're meant to do amazing things."

"I...don't know," Alibaba told him, shaking his head. "Maybe I just aren't cut out for stuff like that..." he commented quietly, and glared as Aladdin gave him a sharp look. "...What?!"

"So all those people back there were wrong then?" he snapped back just as loudly. "Maybe you were a better leader and stronger than you thought. Maybe they all agreed that you'd make a good king. And good kings, like Sinbad-sama, don't just turn away and forget everything! Think about it..."

Aladdin really, really thought that would have gotten him angry. However, Alibaba made a slight sound and leaned in. The Magi felt a hand pass through his long fringe softly, and his skin prickled under the touch. In a way he felt nervous, just a very different sort of nervous to how he had when he had battled that sea monster. "So...is that what you think? That I'd make a good king?"

"Of course, who wouldn't? Even if you're acting this stupid right now I can see that. But..." Aladdin fell silent, and into deep thought. Those words washed over him, and he realised why that prince was looking at him softly. What it meant, for a Magi, to say someone would make a good king. Judal had been the one who had named their kings, and Aladdin was fairly sure Alibaba was the first he had named. Perhaps he should have thought about it more, and he had said that without thinking. Even so, he was fairly sure he didn't regret saying such a thing.

"...I can't keep avoiding things, can I?" Alibaba said quietly. "I can't turn my back on those people. Maybe...if I challenge a dungeon, and go back there I'll be strong enough. I'll make up for what happened back there. Do you think it's worth going back there?"

Aladdin closed his eyes, but nodded. He allowed himself to be pressed back to that wall, and felt the other man draw close again. "I could help you. We could set things right..."

"I don't really get it," Alibaba told him softly. He felt fingers reach in, smoothing lightly down his cheek and he leaned into the touch. "But this feels right..."

"Yes, I was told it would feel right, I guess," Aladdin mumbled, and wasn't too sure what he was referring to anymore. Naming a king or...something else. A finger curled under Aladdin's chin, but he refused to open his eyes as he was sure that prince looked over him. He felt too nervous to. If anything he felt dizzy, as if this was both incredibly easy and confusing in the same instant.

"Do you know, it's funny...when I first saw you, I thought you were a girl," Alibaba laughed. His nail was drawing slowly over his lips as if to part them. Aladdin allowed it, and reached out to stroke over his hand."

"I don't see how that's funny," he replied a little dumbly. Pressing into him, Alibaba continued to outline the soft lines of his lips with his thumbnail. His face felt flushed, and without being held there he was certain he would have lacked the energy in his numb body to stand.

"I guess it's not funny. All I mean is that you're much prettier than any girl I've seen..." Alibaba whispered quietly in his ear. He wasn't sure, really, if that was a good or a bad thing. Far from explaining anything, it made him want to ask what he meant. Even so, he felt the body pressing him there stop slightly to equal his lesser right. He had closed in, and looked to claim the Magi's soft lips between his own...


	8. Chapter 8

_Huge, huge thanks to SmileRen, Perpetual Dreams, neverchange5986 and Akumarayne for the reviews and kind words. And of course everyone following, favouriting and reading thus far. I'd say more but...I am so tired right now its unreal :p  
_

_Enjoy~_

* * *

_**Chapter 8**_

"So what exactly were you trying to do outside? Kiss me?"

From under the folds of those expensive waves of silken clothing, Alibaba's eyes snapped open. Then he looked up from where he had slept on his many, neglected books and coughed loudly.

Aladdin smiled at finally getting the prince's attention.. Still late in the night following that beachside festival, the two had climbed the steps of the Black Scale Tower rather than returning to their respective bedrooms. Those libraries and their endless, ceiling-high shelves sought to house more books than the Magi had seen in a while. And, of course, the ones relating to rukh had to be on the highest of those floors. Their faded covers and yellowed pages showed they were part of the priceless, expensive collection gathered carefully from the corners of their world.

It was more than what Aladdin had seen in Reim. Those spiralling steps had split off into many lo9ng rooms. Right now they set in the tallest room of the tall spire, overlooking the moonlit gardens.

Alibaba had followed him there, without even asking. But far from talking about the incident, or rather non-incident – the two had endured; he clearly was just falling asleep there. As golden eyes flicked to Aladdin, and the prince seemed to show no sign of leaving, he looked more irate than usual at being disturbed. "N-no! Of course I wasn't. We're both men for one thing...why would I do something like that?!"

And he leaned up from the pile of faded blue and red covers he had used a pillow, rubbing their indentation clear from his cheek and glared. He smoothed his elegant, extravagant Kou-styled clothing, which clearly was anything but suited to such a place.

"Well, you're the one who pushed me to the wall and leaned in that close," Aladdin told him rather blankly, as Alibaba smoothed his short hair and avoided his eyes. He looked flushed, and Aladdin knew he was lying. The wavering of his scattered yet bright rukh were a clear indicator of that. Why make this complicated? Or just admit to such a simple thing as wishing to kiss someone?

Like everything, such as wishing to forget what happened within his home country, Alibaba clearly had his reasons. And his somewhat misguided, irresponsible way of dealing with such things.

Even so, Alibaba waved his arms, gesturing wildly to show him how wrong he was. When Aladdin knew he was quite right. "...D-do you need to talk so blatantly and say it like that?!" he exclaimed. He upped from his chair and his scattering of books, to the small, airy arch of marble overlooking the courtyards below. And took a calming breath. "...Why would I do such a thing?"

"Usually because you like someone I guess..." Aladdin replied. "Or to see if they like you."

Alibaba didn't reply, and seemed to want to avoid him following his abrupt awakening. Aladdin shrugged, propping his palms on his elbows and swung his legs under his tall chair as he looked back over the words, taking in none of their meaning. After all, Judal had told him that much; that kissing someone was a way of telling if they liked you. The Magi hadn't had his first kiss yet, and at that moment felt rather cheated.

Even so, he knew the prince had been through a lot. He offered a brief smile to the back firmly placed to him from across the room, and nodded. "Alright then. I made a mistake."

Alibaba nodded, but didn't turn round. Still not focusing completely, he thought back to that moment not long ago. That warmth of a thumb crossing over his lips, and the soft breath grazing over his face. He hadn't really looked to back away, he knew that much. And he – had – never thought twice about him being a good king; he was simply misguided.

Aladdin yawned; the thought came to him he was merely tired. Following the festival at the beach, and his mind dwelling on that darkness clinging to his brother's lock of hair, a few things currently unnerved him. His thoughts seemed muddled and strange, even if some thoughts seemed better than others. Currently sleep caused those words to blur, and the main good reason for the rash decision to visit a library rather than sleep was his current company.

He should be sleep, they both should. More than any worry was the thought these mysterious black rukh were very real. And that he'd seen such a thing. He of course wasn't too sure what it meant to have someone else's rukh – and even black rukh – in the body of another. It had just worried him, and indeed that prince of Balbadd had given him much to think over.

It seemed unfortunately he wasn't going to find anything. He aimed to stay in the libraries there for the night, reading, as he had done so many times over the years. And when she woke, he'd ask Yamaraiha about it when he received his first lesson from the shapely magician. Until then, well...given everything he doubted he'd be about to sleep.

Alibaba covered his mouth in a yawn. "Well, so you know I wasn't trying to kiss you. I just..." he trailed off flatly, into a nervous pause as an easy excuse evaded him. His rukh wavered again, and he looked back. "I was just trying..." Aladdin sat back, hands in his lap and blinked, curious how this would go. "...Stop it! Stop looking at me like that! Just...read your books, alright?!"

"I read all these already though," Aladdin commented. "Maybe you should go to sleep, Alibaba-kun. You seem like you need it."

Far from taking that as advice, in fact seeming insulted he'd leave first, the prince swept back into the room. As Aladdin closed his current heavy volume shut in a cloud of off-colour dust, it was taken from him. As if wanting to busy and distract himself, Alibaba stacked the books up and removed from that thin table. They smudged over his priceless garments, as if he had forgotten such a thing already. Crossing back, and away from his interrogator, he was replacing the books on a shelf they shouldn't be on.

"You could have said earlier..." Alibaba muttered to him, rubbing at his eyes as he took to clearing the adjacent shelf of its concepts concerning rukh.

"I was going to. But instead I wanted to ask why you didn't kiss me," he commented, and watched the prince drop the heavy stack of books in front of him with a withered look. "I'm just teasing; I'll stop talking about it now. And thank you..." he finished brightly, lightly picking up the book at the top of the pile and delicately flicking through it with interest.

"...It's nothing, really. Have you found anything?" he asked, as if keen to change the subject.

"Hm... no. But I didn't think I would," the Magi replied. "It really seems no one's ever written about black rukh. There's not much on the white ones either though. I know the Magi from Reim wrote a fair bit about them, but she doesn't really publish herself outside of her empire."

"...That's a bit troublesome."

"Yes, it's very troublesome," he agreed cheerfully. It was as he thought. He had studied in both Magnostadt and Kou with his brother, and usually under some of the most prestigious magicians in the world. Even if it seemed an arrogant assumption, he thought if he hadn't read about them yet he wouldn't at all. Even so, it was worth it to him to keep going. "I guess I could go and see if there's anything new in Magnostadt after this time, or if someone's researching about them at the university. It will just take months to get there, and I'm meant to be learning here."

He was given a strange look. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be? I liked it there a lot."

"...Your empire never told you of the weird things going on there?" Alibaba enquired, and he shook his head. Really, Aladdin had nothing of fond memories of the city of magicians, and the university there. "Well, my father before he...passed on often wrote to them, and never received anything back."

"They don't like contacting goi...non magicians," he corrected himself quickly.

"Maybe so, but he mentioned he only heard of bad things happening since their magicians took over the city those years ago."

"It's not that bad," Aladdin insisted. "Even if it is, it's all the more reason to go there, right?"

"...Weren't you listening to a word I was just saying?!"

"Of course I was. How rude do you think I am?" Aladdin looked up from the small book he had been skimming over, before casing it aside. "You know though, this is a library and it's early in the morning. You should be a bit quieter, even if you get angry easy."

"I'm not angry," he insisted, but lowered his voice nonetheless. Even if they were quite alone there. "But...hey, you named me a king, right? The only king you named?" Aladdin nodded, discarding that book and picking up another. Alibaba's eyes widened a little, possibly at either his speed at reading or the fact he was still being somewhat attentive. "That means you're _my _Magi. And you're not going to a dangerous place like that."

"...I'm pretty sure that's not how it works," Aladdin informed him. ""If I can learn about that rukh in you, and..." his fingers clenched softly over the lock of hair in his pocket thoughtfully, but he ignored the look given him. "Look, it's not like you'd need to protect me, even if you could enter their country. And if anything, I'd be the one looking out for you."

"H-huh?! How did you work out that?!" Alibaba exclaimed, as if the Magi had just said something deeply offensive.

Aladdin just smiled at him, and picked again at the piles of books dumped haphazardly in front of him. They sat there, time gradually passing until Alibaba stood. Wioth an apologetic smile and stretch, he headed to the door. "Well erm...if you don't mind I have my training session in three hours. So –"

"Alibaba-kun, you could have left hours ago. I don't mind," he threw the scandalised looking man a smile as he reached the doorway and froze. "But it was nice talking to you, anyway."

Muttering something incomprehensible, perhaps asking why the Magi wasn't following him, Alibaba closed the door with a light snap. Aladdin listened to the light thud of wooden sandals descending so many steps before standing. Firstly he took to taking the books Alibaba had placed back from the shelves, and placed them back when they should be.

Then, he curled back in the window, overlooking the gardens. He felt the brisk air awaken him, and settled where he was. Either way, it had certainly been a long enough time since he had been motivated to being so diligent in researching anything.

* * *

Long after midnight, a long figure sat and gazed over the murky docks of Kou. Judal sat, arms wrapped around his knees, on a low roof overhead. Slowly, so slowly, it seemed the shadows over the palace were growing, and not merely the literal ones. Over the passing months, he had taken to sitting there. Since his new studies, he found himself unable to sleep. For hours he sat there, unmoving, and even when insomnia bruised under his eyes he was offered little reprieve.

Since that fateful day when Gyokuen had allowed the men of Al-Thamen to take him away, things had been that way. Judal found himself craving solitude in the moments where he wasn't brandishing his power. As the palace grew darker, to the point it was positively drowning in the darkened mist the black rukh left, things had only worsened.

He wasn't even sure, really, why he sat there. Looking over the docks, he knew he would have been awaiting his brother's return. But that wouldn't be for over half a year and he wasn't waiting. Right then, he didn't really fathom if he cared that much. He just needed something familiar, no...controllable. As the world blacked and grew confusing, he felt he needed something he understand. As his world changed and grew steadily colder and his emotions seemed to sink into each other and grow fainter, he wanted something he understood.

The rukh of the palace, and his own, continued to flutter around him like minuscule bright doves and sullen ravens. Like tiny birds they hovered, attracted by him, and he fixed them in his keen gaze. Somehow their song seemed quieter than it used to be, somewhat muted and the white ones seemed more sparse. Curiously he reached out, watching one of the white ones obey his command and land on his palm. He drew out his glimmering sceptre, and drew his thumbnail over it gently.

Since he had begun his studies under Ithnan, he had noticed something; the black rukh didn't sing. He had wondered, many times, if somehow when their fate was turned against them if somehow it rendered them mute. He didn't know, and the magician had never told him if that was true or not. Perhaps that what it meant; that to gain power through cursing fate, something was removed? Those silent rukh certainly brimmed with power, and Gyokuen continued to softly assure him all of this was alright.

He looked over that tiny, shimmering prize curiously. It hummed so gently against his warm skin, its song all but welcoming the Magi and his encroaching darkness. As it fluttered there, he gave it one final look before carefully circling his fingers round it. He readied his sceptre, and his ruby eyes closed. And then he pondered upon all he had been taught about magic until that point in time.

Steadily, as Judal envisaged his world drowning in black fire and the freezing depths of the deepest ocean, that rukh grew quieter as his magic found it. That showed to him that he finally had gotten the hang of what his teacher had wanted to show him.

Excited, he uncurled his fist. Right there, crumpled upon his pale he saw that speck of light had become a shimmering black. He grinned, almost laughed, triumphantly at his accomplishment. Then softly he tilted his hand, allowing that small thing to take back to the non-existent breeze. It flew off to join the ever increasing volume of black rukh within his home, and faded back into the night.

Steadily after all, the influence of Al-Thamen was spreading. Slowly that mist weaved over his home and the result of such a thing made the place feel darker. Judal didn't really think much of it, even if some of hjis studying had been unpleasant and sometimes downright painful. As it was, Gyokuen had smiled and told him it was alright. And he had not questioned that. he certainly felt stronger; the power crackling like a chill of lightening under his skin certainly indicated that much.

"It's time, Magi..."

Eyes flicked down, to see the man standing below. Ithnan leant on his staff, peering upwards to his young student. Judal had only ever received his lessons at night, which he still felt was creepy and weird. Even so, that man preferred it. And always knew where to find him.

Energetically, and forgetting his fatigue, Judal dropped down softly to the wet grass beneath him. of course he obeyed, as power was power even if it still unnerved him. Right now he was studying such things of that strange magic which transcended all he had ever known before. The kind of thing he had only heard from hushed whispers after following these weirdoes around for so long.

Al-Thamen still told Judal little of their aims, however. Ithnan especially, who leant up from his staff to turn and lead Judal away, was guilty of that. He would speak strangely, and as such confused him further. In their lessons, Ithnan spoke only of certain things. Ominous mentionings that Judal himself would soon be the heart of their empire, and something akin to a dark anchor to pull in the rest of the world to him. That in aiding them in their battle to free the world of fate's tyranny, he would free everyone from it.

Mainly, it was strange things like that. All Judal knew was in his opinion it amounted to this; the man spoke far, far too much.

Silently he followed Ithnan. Far from leading him to his library, or room, he was leading him down. To below the labyrinth structures of the stone catacombs below the palace, in fact. The moment Judal's bare feet left the comfort of the grounds and sank to the cold stone steps, he froze. Those esoteric chambers which housed the dead were of no interest to him; why would they be. He shivered as they descended, and as the chill rippled through his thin clothing. Hugging his arms around his body, he quickened after Ithnan's long and quick strides.

"...why are you taking me to such a weird place?" Judal muttered. Ithnan didn't reply, and instead sharply took the first right when they reached the bottom and took a flaming torch in hand. The Magi drew into the chiselled chamber and felt the door creak shut behind him on its rusted hinges.

He paused at what he saw.

Laid out before him, on a small and mossy altar, was laid out a suit of armour. Not a shining and impressive one, either. Rather it was a collection of metallic fragments of steely grey, long since shattered and their shine long gone. Far from being functional, it seemed to be only a film of dark, cloud-like fog which seemed to hold them together. "Ah...sensei, he doesn't look so good you know..."

Ithnan's cold laugh shivered out, chilling Judal in the already unsettling place. "Trust you to see him for what he is; a person rather than an object..."

"...It's it obvious?" Everything about that armour felt, to Judal, to be alive. Or at least, it had used to be. Why else would it be in a tomb, anyway? Those fragments were laid out, and seemed to anticipate something – in fact, anything. Objects never really had the conscious want to be fixed, did they?

That mist shimmered, as if eerily it was taking a breath. Eyes widening, Judal backed up against the rotted door. He recognised it as being the vestige of rukh, the black look of what used to be a man which clung to it. As if instead of leaving its form and rejoining the world, it clung to the armour it wore in life.

Ithnan considered Judal silently for a moment, and then looked back at the altar and it's laid out remnants. As if to demonstrate something, he reached out so the sleeve of his robes drew through that mist. It parted, as if they were a drying and pitiful ocean of black floating on nothing. As he pulled up his hand, they fell and reattached themselves to that armour. Certainly, they were bound to it. And possibly for a long time at that, from the feel of them.

"It's impressive you can see that much, though," Ithnan told him. "I might as well introduce you, this is Isaac."

Judal somehow felt that a greeting would be wasted in this case. He leaned back against the wall; arms folded, and stared over at his teacher. "So what exactly is it...he?"

"I guess some context isn't a bad thing. Isaac was the protector of a girl called Durya – the youngest princess of the Kingdom of Mustashim. Well, before the revolt, anyway. Have you heard of it?"

"You know I have," Judal replied in a bored voice, not seeing how this would make him stronger. "That's what Magnostadt used to be called and I used to study there. Before you guys made me and my brother return here."

"Of course, Magi. Durya placed Isaac – and herself – in the Organisation's care."

"...The joke's on her, then." Judal doubted as if, like him, they'd given the princess a choice.

He however had never seen that place. Sinbad had, and it was one of Judal's favourite memories as a child; demanding that extraordinary person tell him all about it. So many times had he been told of Mustashim before it had fallen in a bloody revolt. He had heard so much about its fields of wild flowers and clear streams he felt he had been there. He had wanted so much to see it.

Yet, that was before his time. The kingdom had fallen, and the victorious magicians had formed Magnostadt on its remains. And he and his brother had been children still at that time. When they had been sent there to study, he had been excited. He thought he'd get to see the city allegedly caught in a perpetual spring for himself. Instead, he remembered tall walls, imposing libraries and stuffy old magicians and narrow streets. He had been so disappointed, but then the new leader wished to forget there was ever such a place as Mustashim, however beautiful it had been.

"We were there when Mustashim fell," Ithnan informed him. "Just as we were there when any nation fell, and we always will be. We sought out that child princess and her knight who had lost his life protecting her own..." he indicated the decrepit armour thoughtfully. "We asked her to curse her fate, and when she came of age she would claim a dungeon for us. And, of course, she needs her loyal knight for that..."

Judal nodded, and drew up from the wall as he could see where this was going now. "So...what? We can bring him back to life or something like that?"

"That might be putting it generously. She just said she wanted him back. I guess it doesn't matter if he's little more than dust..." Ithnan pondered. "Magi, I want to see just how well you're taking to those black rukh of yours. Call upon those of this man. Command them back into this armour, and to obey us."

"Well, aren't rukh meant to leave someone when they die? Not cling on like this?" he asked curiously. "I was always told that. That when someone dies, their rukh just float around and become part of the world."

"Usually, but cursing fate changes that. Do you see any white rukh to pour back into the world?" Judal shook his head. "That's part of what depravity is. When all your rukh are stained black, you'll understand more than you do."

Judal nodded, but he couldn't really see such a thing as ever making sense. He took a deep breath however, and allowed himself to focus on whatever there was left of Isaac, raising his sceptre as he did. In theory, black rukh weren't all that different. Compared to, say, calling the rukh floating over the squalling winds or trapped in the churning tides to his whim, it felt similar enough. This instead focused on looking inside the darkness and despair within a living creature, and using that against them.

He didn't mind that, as it served his want for getting stronger. He focused on those rukh, even if they seemed too fragile now to even cling to either world or form. He thought, perhaps, it was that curse which eroded them. He shivered, and gave the silent command for them to hold onto that armour more tightly. They didn't hear him, he guessed, and tried harder. Far from acquiescing however, Judal felt his mind cloud over. He felt almost as though his knees were giving out, and became light headed as he fell forward...

"Of course, you're not there yet," Ithnan was informing him quietly.

On opening his eyes, Judal felt light headed. He looked up, feeling that magician was close having caught him before he fell. Those lifeless dark eyes glanced back into his own of lively ruby for a long moment. "I told you, Judal; this would be difficult with so many white rukh inside you. But I wanted to test you..."

From his tone, it seemed Ithnan knew he wouldn't be successful. Judal gritted his teeth, pushing that man's arms from around him and backed away. "...I told you to stop touching me. It's so creepy..."

"I just caught you so you wouldn't fall, Magi."

"...Whatever. Just tell me how to be strong. That's all you need to do..." he snapped angrily back at him.

Ithnan nodded, and raised that crooked staff. As if to show how it should be done, the magician allowed that thin mist to become enriched and it thickened to an oily texture. It drew out in chain like ribbons, winding itself around the armour. The surface of the metal steadily drew less tarnished, almost shining as the rukh binding it were returned. As if the puppet was back attached to his strings, a metal gauntlet shifted in a groan of metal. And it seemed Isaac was breathed back into life once more.

Judal's eyes widened. He tried to get a better look, but Ithnan already was pushing him from the chamber. The door was shut quickly behind them and Judal glared. "What?! That was amazing! Let me see it!"

"Would you want someone staring at you once you'd just woken up?"

"...Like I care," he replied. As usually people knew better than to stare at him for long.

Ithnan pressed Judal to ascend the steps back to the palace, as apparently that lesson was over. the Magi rubbed at his eyes, thankfully feeling more tired than usual."

"So..." Judal stared, as the magician remained silent as he followed. A thought came to him, and his figures gripped at his sceptre. "Is that the same magic to bind my djinn?"

"Similar," Ithnan said. "Both involve collecting black rukh into an object. In your djinn's case, Kassim was a man who pledged himself to us by throwing himself on a black weapon I gave him. And –"

"Eh?" Judal paused. "How stupid would you have to be to do that? I wouldn't..."

"We chose several, but only he survived the process, and you became his master."

"It's about time I was given something useful..." Judal agreed as he made his way back to his room.

"The first of many useful things," Ithnan followed him through the chilling night and gaining fog. "Once all your rukh are black, you'll fully have cursed your fate and will truly be our Magi."

"It's fine. I just want to be stronger than –"

"Your brother?" the magician asked, and Judal span round glaring. Ithnan was close, closer than he'd have expected. He felt fingers pass through that soft, thin streak of azure blue that now ran the full length of his hair. He gave the man a look of warning, which he refused. "Are you that annoyed Gyokuen said he was more powerful?"

"Like he is anymore...I'll show that witch."

"Is that so? You should be more polite to her. She's not as entertained by you." He told him, curling the strands within his fingers thoughtfully before releasing them. "Her interest in Aladdin is nothing to do with his power, at any rate."

"What then?"

A finger slipped under Judal's chin, and Ithnan leaned in to him curiously. He didn't back away, regardless of that familiar desire he had to take the black magician's staff to hit him with it. The man laughed slightly, as if knowing what he wished to do. "You can ask me, you know, Magi. Ask me who the person you call your brother really is..."


End file.
